High Protein Content (high + protein_content)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Supplemental feeding reduces natural selection in juvenile red deer

ECOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2002
Karoline T. Schmidt
In red deer, variation in winter and spring weather conditions encountered by the mothers during pregnancy and during the first year of life are a main determinant for individual life-history as well as population dynamics. We tested the hypothesis that supplementary feeding which provides constant food supply throughout winter removes the selective pressure of winter harshness on nutrition-mediated phenotypic traits. We analysed cohort variation in body weight in calves in October, before their first winter, and in yearlings in June, after their first winter, in a food-supplemented population in the Eastern Austrian Alps. Over eleven years, cohort body weight varied between years in calves and yearlings. Contrary to studies on non-supplemented red deer populations we found neither short- nor long-term effects of winter weather on body weight. In calves, autumn body weight was negatively related to April,May and June temperatures, suggesting that cool weather during the main growth period retarded plant senescence and thereby prolonged the period of high protein content of summer forage. In yearlings, variation in June body weight, shortly after the end of the feeding period, was lower after a wet April,May, suggesting a negative effect of a prolonged period of supplemental feeding. For both calves and yearlings intra-cohort variation in body weight was higher, inter-cohort variation was lower as compared to non-supplemented red deer, suggesting that in their first year of life supplemented red deer are under reduced natural selection pressure. [source]


Folivory in the white-tipped plantcutter Phytotoma rutila: seasonal variations in diet composition and quality

JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2003
Enrique H. Bucher
Plantcutters (Phytotomidae) represent the only Passeriformes with a predominantly folivorous diet. Little is known however about their feeding habits and adaptations for leaf consumption. Here we analyze the relationship between diet composition and nutritional value in the white-tipped plantcutter Phytotoma rutila in a Chaco woodland in Córdoba, Argentina. The white-tipped plantcutter consumed mainly dicot leaves (91%), complemented with a small proportion of fruits (7%) and flowers (2%). Eleven plant species were utilized, of which five were strongly dominant: Lycium cestroides (38%), Prosopis alba and P. nigra (28%), Celtis tala (22%), and Schinus longifolius (8%). No animal food was consumed. The leaf material ingested by the white-tipped plantcutter had high protein content and low proportion of fibers and phenols. In multivariate analysis, leaf chemical properties accounted for over 81% of the variation in diet composition throughout the year. However, only protein and phenols content related significantly with diet composition in single regressions. The quality index that relates protein with lignin and phenols showed the highest correlation with diet composition. Availability of highly nutritive leaves of Lycium cestroides during the dry season seems to be a key factor for the occurrence of the white-tipped plantcutter in the study area. Our results confirm that plantcutters are truly folivorous passerine species, being able to obtain a highly nutritional diet throughout the year. [source]


Effect of Transglutaminase on Some Properties of Cake Enriched with Various Protein Sources

JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 5 2008
H. Alp
ABSTRACT:, The effect of transglutaminase (TG) enzyme addition (0% and 0.09%) on batter and cake properties, prepared with different protein sources (nonfat dry milk [NFDM], soy flour, and soymilk) and flour types (type A with 11.4% protein and type B with 8.6% protein), was investigated. Specific gravity and pH of cake batters were determined, and physical and chemical analysis of the cake samples was performed. Soy products improved cake weight, volume, softness, protein, and fat contents. NFDM increased the crust redness and crumb lightness more than the other protein sources. TG enzyme addition affected the volume, softness, crust, and crumb color of the cake samples significantly (P < 0.05). The combination of TG enzyme and flour B with lower protein gave more puffed, symmetrical, and softer cake samples. TG had a potential application with different protein sources in cake production. Especially interactions between TG with soy flour and TG and wheat flour with high protein content were important in cake formulations due to the softening effect on crumb. [source]


IMPROVEMENT OF PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF NONFAT FERMENTED MILK DRINK BY USING WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE

JOURNAL OF TEXTURE STUDIES, Issue 3 2009
ASLI E. OZEN
ABSTRACT The use of whey protein concentrate (WPC) for the improvement of physical properties of nonfat fermented milk drink was investigated. Drinks were prepared from nonfat milk powder and WPC at different proportions. Rheological properties, serum separation and particle size of the drinks were measured. The effect of WPC on the physical properties of the drinks was evaluated by comparison with those of commonly used stabilizers, including propylene glycol alginate and locust bean gum. WPC addition caused an increase in the consistency coefficient and thixotropy and a decrease in the particle size of the samples. There was no serum separation in the sample with 2% WPC. Large unstable aggregates were observed in the sample with 3% WPC, which also exhibited the highest serum separation. WPC up to a level of 2% positively influenced the physical properties of nonfat fermented milk drink similar to stabilizers. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Fermented milk drinks are consumed especially for their beneficial health effects. Physical properties of fermented milk drinks influence their quality and consumer acceptability. Hydrocolloid stabilizers are used for the improvement of physical properties of fermented milk products. Whey protein concentrates (WPC) with high protein content can be used to substitute hydrocolloid stabilizers. In this study, the effect of the addition of WPC with 75% protein in place of a part of the nonfat milk powder on the physical properties of nonfat fermented milk drink with 6% dry matter was investigated. Use of an appropriate level of WPC was found to be important for obtaining a desirable effect on the physical properties of nonfat fermented milk drink. The effect of WPC was found to be comparable to those of commonly used hydrocolloid stabilizers. Use of WPC also enhances the nutritional value of the product as whey proteins have a high biological value. [source]


AUTOMIC FAILURE AND NORMAL PRESSURE HYDROCEPHALUS IN A PATIENT WITH CHRONIC DEMYELINATING INFLAMMATORY NEUROPATHY

JOURNAL OF THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, Issue 1 2002
M. Laurą
A 75-year-old man with HCV hepatitis developed at the age of 70 presented with rest and action tremor localized at both hands and progressive cognitive impairment with memory loss. Four years later he begun to complain of progressive fatigue, occasional falls, numbness at the extremities and orthostatic hypotension. One month after admission, he rapidly worsened with inability to walk, mainly because of autonomic failure. Neurological examination revealed gait disturbances, including a wide base of support and short stride, slurred speech, reduction of upward gaze, rest and action tremor at both hands, intrinsic hand muscle and anterior tibialis muscle wasting and weakness on both sides, absent deep tendon reflexes, loss of vibration sense at lower limbs, and bilateral pes cavus. Routine laboratory studies, autoantibodies, thyroid function, neoplastic markers and immunoelectrophoresis were normal. Cryoglobulins were absent, whereas CSF protein content was increased (142 mg/dl). Autonomic nervous system investigation detected severe orthostatic hypotension. Nerve conduction studies showed absent sensory potentials and a marked reduction of compound motor action potential amplitudes and of motor conduction velocities. A sural nerve biopsy revealed remarkable onion bulb-like changes, endoneurial and perivascular infiltrations of inflammatory cells. Psychometric tests showed mild cognitive impairment. Brain MRI was consistent with normotensive hydrocephalus. The findings indicated the presence of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, autonomic nervous system involvement and normal pressure hydrocephalus. A condition of multiple system atrophy (MSA) might be taken into account, even if somatic peripheral nerve involvement may rarely occur in MSA. Moreover the normal pressure hydrocephalus could be due to the high protein content in CSF (Fukatsu R et al., 1997). [source]


Environmental and genetic determination of protein content and grain yield in durum wheat under Mediterranean conditions

PLANT BREEDING, Issue 5 2001
Y. Rharrabti
Abstract The unpredictability of the Mediterranean climate causes fluctuations in wheat yield and quality, but offers the opportunity for obtaining high-quality durum wheat in terms of grain protein content. Twenty-five durum wheat genotypes were grown under irrigated and rainfed conditions at each of two latitudes in Spain during 1998 and 1999. Differences between latitudes in grain protein content and chlorophyll content in the flag leaf were attributable to nitrogen fertilization management. Cycle length until anthesis was less affected by the environment than grain-filling duration, and was longer under irrigated conditions than in the rainfed sites. A negative asymptotic curve was the best equation to fit the relationship between yield and protein content, suggesting that yield improvements in fertile environments may be attained with negligible reductions in protein content. ,Jabato', ,Waha', ,Lagost-3', ,Massara-1' and ,Vit,on' showed medium to high yield, yield stability and high protein content. Chlorophyll content in the flag leaf, measured at anthesis with the soil-plant analysis development (SPAD) portable field unit, may be useful for the fast and cheap detection of durum wheat genotypes with high grain protein content in drought-stressed Mediterranean environments. [source]


Food preferences of wild mountain gorillas

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 10 2008
Jessica Ganas
Abstract Determining the nutritional and phenolic basis of food preference is important for understanding the nutritional requirements of animals. Preference is a measure of which foods would be consumed by an animal if there was no variation in availability among food items. From September 2004 to August 2005, we measured the food preferences of four wild mountain gorilla groups that consume foliage and fruit in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, to determine what nutrients and phenols are preferred and/or avoided. To do so, we asked the following questions: (1) Which plant species do the gorillas prefer? (2) Considering the different plant parts consumed of these preferred species, what nutrients and/or phenols characterize them? (3) Do the nutritional and phenolic characteristics of preferred foods differ among gorilla groups? We found that although some species were preferred and others were not, of those species found in common among the different group home ranges, the same ones were generally preferred by all groups. Second, all groups preferred leaves with relatively high protein content and relatively low fiber content. Third, three out of four groups preferred leaves with relatively high sugar amounts. Fourth, all groups preferred pith with relatively high sugar content. Finally, of the two groups tested, we found that the preferred fruits of one group had relatively high condensed tannin and fiber/sugar contents, whereas the other group's preferred fruits were not characterized by any particular nutrient/phenol. Overall, there were no differences among gorilla groups in nutritional and phenolic preferences. Our results indicate that protein and sugar are important in the diets of gorillas, and that the gorillas fulfil these nutritional requirements through a combination of different plant parts, shedding new light on how gorillas balance their diets in a variable environment. Am. J. Primatol. 70:927,938, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]