Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026
A Model of Chronic Nutrient Infusion in the Rat
Published on: August 14, 2013
Local High-Protein, Plant-Based Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food Enhances Recovery from Malnutrition in Rats
Aurélie Bechoff1,2,3, Peter Akomo4,5, Laura Utume2,6
1Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Rehovot, Israel.
Background:
Infant or child malnutrition is a major public health issue. With global funding cuts and increasing incidence because of conflicts and climate change, finding cost effective and sustainable solutions is highly needed.
Objectives:
We conducted a preclinical study to mimic child acute malnutrition (AM) and evaluate recovery using a novel plant-based ready-to-use-therapeutic food (RUTF) made from locally available ingredients from sub-Saharan Africa.
Methods:
Three-week-old rats were assigned to a 6-wk experiment consisting of a 3-wk induction phase, followed by a 3-wk dietary intervention phase. During the induction phase, the rats received either a balanced diet (control) or a protein-deficient diet (to induce malnutrition). For the subsequent intervention phase, both the control and malnourished rats were switched to either a commercial peanut milk (PM) RUTF or a locally produced plant-based chickpea-sorghum-maize-soybean (ChSMS) RUTF, or remained on the same diet as the induction phase.
Results:
Compared with the PM formulation, the ChSMS formulation provided a higher protein content (14% compared with 10% of total energy) and greater protein quality (Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Score of 87% compared with 69%, respectively). ChSMS was consumed in higher amounts by the rats and resulted in significantly greater body weight and length as compared with PM. In malnourished animals, ChSMS led to catch-up growth, whereas PM did not.
Conclusions:
These findings indicate that a locally produced, culturally acceptable, and affordable plant-based RUTF formulated with high protein quality and density may be effective in treating AM in children. Moreover, the observed reversal of stunting and subsequent catch-up growth indicate that this formulation may also be efficacious as a lipid-based supplement in addressing chronic malnutrition.This trial was registered at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) Authority for Biological and Biomedical Models https://animals.huji.ac.il/; https://animals.huji.ac.il/form/request-perform-research-animals-decision-if-specified-research-experiment-animals-defined-law (ABBMS) as Ethics Number AG-22-16962-3.
