[Biological value of wheat proteins as dependent on maturity of the wheat grain]

The authors studied the dependence of the change in biological protein value of the wheat grains upon the degree of maturity. The biological protein value (as calculated according to MITCHELL) decreases during the period of ripening and, at the time of full ripeness, it is significantly lower than in the initial stage. This decrease varies from 10.7 to 19.0%, according to wheat variety. In contrast to this, the essential amino-acid index changes but insignificantly with ripening. Virtually identical biological protein values were obtained with both methods from full-ripe wheat grains.