Cottonseed proteins, nutritive value

Pea.nuts, The proteins of peanuts are low in lysine, threonine, cystine plus methionine, and tryptophan when compared to the amino acid requirements for children but meet the requirements for adults (see Table 3). Peanut flour can be used to increase the nutritive value of cereals such as cornmeal but further improvement is noted by the addition of lysine (71). The trypsin inhibitor content of raw peanuts is about one-fifth that of raw soybeans, but this concentration is sufficient to cause hypertrophy (enlargement) of the pancreas in rats. The inhibitors of peanuts are largely inactivated by moist heat treatment (48). As for cottonseed, peanuts are prone to contamination by aflatoxin. FDA regulations limit aflatoxin levels of peanuts and meals to 100 ppb for breeding beef catde, breeding swine, or poultry 200 ppb for finishing swine 300 ppb for finishing beef catde 20 ppb for immature animals and dairy animals and 20 ppb for humans. 

NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF COTTONSEED. Typically, cottonseed is comprised of about 10% linters, 35% hull, and 55% kernels (meats). The kernels, from which food and feed are obtained, contain about 7% moisture, 30% oil, 30% crude protein, 24% nitrogen-free extract, 4.8% crude fiber, and 4.4% tish. 

The nutritional values of the proteins contained in these oilseeds are affected by associated components. For example, the chemical pigments, gossypols, contained in cottonseed make the oil-free meals toxic for most animals unless fed in limited quantities or unless the meals are prepared by special processes. Raw, oil-free soybean meals are usually toasted to increase their nutritive values. Oil-free peanut meals apparently do not contain a toxic component. The food value of the proteins are comparable however, when compared with animal proteins, the oilseed proteins are found to be deficient in lysine and methionine and probably tryptophan. 

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