[Biological evaluation of an infant food based on soybean, rice and banana]

An infant food, a mixture of soy, rice and banana was biologically evaluated in three studies carried out in Sprague-Dawley rats. In the first assay, the caloric supplementation and milk protein complementation effect on the nutritive value of the product was studied. Results indicated that an equal nutritive value as that of milk is obtained when 50% of the vegetable protein is replaced by animal protein. The fact that caloric supplementation does not exert any positive effect on the nutritive value of the infant food, under the conditions of the study, was also confirmed. In the second assay, the effect of amino acid (lysine and methionine) supplementation was evaluated. Results revealed a significant improvement of the product quality with lysine supplementation, a finding that implies thermal protein damage caused by industrial processing. In the third study, whole milk supplementation effect at the levels that the product could be offered in school lunch programs and Nutrition and Education Centers was investigated. Such values, as determined, correspond to 343 to 655 ml of fluid milk per 100 g of the cereal product. It was also found that milk complements and improves the nutritive value of the product at equal statistical (P less than 0.05) values as those of milk.