Role and Importance of Protein in Human Health

This chapter sets out the role and importance of protein in human health, human protein requirements, and the measurement of food protein quality. Specifically, focus is given to the need to improve sorghum protein quality and the developments that have already taken place in this area are reviewed. Lastly, the improvements in sorghum protein quality achieved to date in the Biosorghum project are presented and on the basis of these data, the potential of biofortified sorghum to improve children s nutritional status is evaluated. 

TABLE 2.1 Indispensable, dispensable, and conditionally indispensable amino acids in the human diet 

Indispensable Dispensable Conditionally indispensable Precursors of conditionally indispensable 

Histidine Alanine Arginine Glutamine/glutamic acid/aspartic acid 

Isoleucine Aspartic acid Cysteine Methionine, serine 

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