Protein quality of autoclaved cowpea varieties as influenced by anti-nutritional factors

One hundred and ten (110) weanling male winstar strain rats were used to determine the protein efficiency ration (PER) and net protein ration (NPR) of five cowpea samples. PER ranged from 1.06 in IT 81D-1137 to 1.91 in 1784E-1-108 while values in autoclaved samples ranged from 1.55 in IT81D-1137 to 2.78 in 1784E-1-108. for NPR, raw samples gave values that ranged between 2.44 and 3.57 in 1781D-1137 and 1784E-1-108 respectively. Autoclaved samples gave NPR values that ranged from 2.72 to 4.47 in IT 8ID-1137 and IT84E-1-108 respectively. In the raw and autoclaved cowpea diets, trypsin inhibitor, lectin and tannic acid were negatively correlated with PER and NPR while HCN and phytic acid had positive relationship with these indicators of protein quality. In autoclaved samples cowpea variety IT84E-1-108 had the highest PER and NPR values showing that it would support growth to a reasonable extent.