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Updated: Aug 20, 2026

Elucidating β-1,3-Glucanase and Peroxidase Physicochemical Properties of Wheat Cell Wall Defense Mechanism Against Diuraphis noxia Infestation
Published on: July 26, 2024
Postprandial metabolic utilization of wheat protein in humans
Cécile Bos1, Barbara Juillet, Hélène Fouillet
1Department of Nutrition Physiology and Feeding Control, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique-Institut National Agronomique, Paris-Grignon, and the Department of Gastroenterology, Avicenne Hospital, Bobigny, France. bos@inapg.inra.fr
Background:
The quality of cereal protein has been little studied in humans despite its quantitative importance in the diet, particularly in developing countries.
Objective:
The objective of this study was to determine the nutritional value of wheat protein in humans as assessed by the measurement of their real ileal digestibility and postprandial retention.
Design:
Healthy young adults (n = 14) were fitted with an intestinal tube to allow the collection of intestinal fluid in the duodenum or terminal ileum. Subjects received a mixed meal of 136 g wheat toast that contained 24.6 g uniformly and intrinsically [(15)N]-labeled wheat protein. Intestinal fluid, blood, and urine were collected for 8 h postprandially.
Results:
The real ileal digestibility of dietary wheat nitrogen amounted to 90.3 +/- 4.3%. The cumulative amount of dietary nitrogen transferred to the deamination pools reached a plateau at 8 h of 24.7 +/- 6.8% of the amount ingested. The urinary excretion of dietary nitrogen in ammonia was high (0.8 +/- 0.3% of ingested dose). The incorporation of dietary nitrogen into serum protein reached 7.0 +/- 1.9% of the meal. Postprandial wheat protein retention was 66.1 +/- 5.8%.
Conclusions:
Our results show that wheat proteins had the same true ileal digestibility as did most of the plant proteins already studied in humans, but also that they had a lower postprandial nitrogen retention value. However, this low value was higher than that predicted from the calculation of indispensable amino acid scores, ie, 89% rather than 30-40% of the nutritional value of milk proteins.
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