Evaluation of Protein Quality in Humans and Insights on Stable Isotope Approaches to Measure Digestibility – A Review

The recent Food and Agricultural Organization/World Health Organization/United Nations University expert consultations on protein requirements and quality have emphasized the need for the new Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score (DIAAS), as a measure of protein quality. This requires human measurements of the true ileal digestibility of individual indispensable amino acids (IAAs) until the end of the small intestine. Digestibility is measured using standard oro-ileal balance methods, which can only be achieved by an invasive naso-ileal intubation in healthy participants or fistulation at the terminal ileum. Significant efforts have been made over the last 2 decades to develop noninvasive or minimally invasive methods to measure IAA digestibility in humans. The application of intrinsically labeled (with stable isotopes like (13)C, (15)N, and (2)H) dietary proteins has helped in circumventing the invasive oro-ileal balance techniques and allowed the differentiation between endogenous and exogenous protein. The noninvasive indicator amino acid oxidation (IAAO) technique, which is routinely employed to measure IAA requirements, has been modified to estimate metabolic availability (a sum of digestibility and utilization) of IAA in foods, but provides an estimate for a single IAA at a time and is burdensome for participants. The recently developed minimally invasive dual isotope tracer method measures small intestinal digestibility of multiple amino acids at once and is suitable for use in vulnerable groups and disease conditions. However, it remains to be validated against standard oro-ileal balance techniques. This review critically evaluates and compares the currently available stable isotope-based protein quality evaluation methods with a focus on the digestibility and metabolic availability measurements in humans. In view of building a reliable DIAAS database of various protein sources and subsequently supporting protein content claims in food labeling, a re-evaluation and harmonization of the available methods are necessary.