Capability of in vitro digestibility methods to predict in vivo digestibility of vegetal and animal proteins

The purpose of this work was to establish predictive equations for the digestibility of proteins of animal and vegetal origin by correlating in vitro and in vivo methods. Proteins sources for animal and vegetable were used. To calculate in vitro digestibility, we used pH values obtained 10 min after a solution of enzymes was added to a protein solution (pH-drop method). We also used the pH-static method, which measures the volume of additional NaOH that is necessary to maintain a pH of 8.0 after the addition of an enzymatic solution. In vivo digestibility was measured in newly weaned male rats that were fed a diet of AIN-93G for growth with a modified protein content of 9.5% for 14 days. The equations developed using the pH-drop method allowed us to predict in vivo digestibility amounts that were more closely correlated with real in vivo digestibility than those obtained with equations using the pH-static method. In vitro techniques are less expensive, require less manpower and physical space, and use a smaller quantity of protein.