[Effect of lactose on the evaluation of the nutritive value of casein]

The biological evaluation of protein from dairy products such as normal and modified powdered milks where lactose is present, poses difficulties. It is known that when this sugar is contained in high concentrations, and due to its osmotic effect, it causes serious intestinal disorders in rats, thus obstructing the determination of the protein nutritional quality. In the study described herein, efforts were made to determine how lactose affects determination of the nutritional value of casein when this is evaluated by the Net Protein Utilization (NPU) procedure, and by the Relative Net Protein Ratio (RNPR) method. Thirty, and 21-day-old rats were fed with diets containing 10% and 8% of casein respectively, and lactose concentrations varying from 20% to 50%. All experiments lasted 10 days. The results demonstrated that casein's nutritional value did not differ significantly (p greater than 0.05) with lactose concentrations up to 40% in any of both methods, even though intestinal disorders were observed with more frequency and duration as lactose concentration increased.