Ready-to-eat expanded parboiled brown rice and bean snack consumption promotes good protein quality and improves lipid and glycemic profiles and intestinal health.

Abstract

In this study we evaluated the effects of an extruded parboiled brown rice and cowpea bean snack (RBS) and an extruded cowpea bean snack (BS) on protein quality in vitro and in vivo, biochemical profile, and intestinal health. Twenty-nine male Wistar rats were randomized into four groups: a casein control (CC) group (n = 8), a parboiled brown rice and cowpea bean snack (RBS) group (n = 8), and a cowpea bean snack (BS) group (n = 8), for 30 days. A protein-free diet group (n = 5) was used to calculate true digestibility and net protein ratio. The RBSs and BSs exhibited distinct chemical compositions and antioxidant profiles. In Wistar rats, compared with the BS group, the RBS group showed lower glucose concentration and lower circular muscle thickness in the colon, higher acetic acid production, and higher peptide transporter 1 and aminopeptidase gene expression. In relation to the CC group, the RBS and BS groups demonstrated a similar protein efficiency ratio, net protein ratio, and in vivo and in vitro protein digestibility as well as similar reductions in triglyceride levels, increases in fecal moisture, and increases in the number of goblet cells in the colon. The BS group showed higher reductions in total cholesterol, colon crypt depth, and duodenal crypt thickness and depth and a higher increase in colon longitudinal muscle thickness compared with the RBS group. Our results showed in the RBS-fed group good protein quality and improved lipid and glycemic profiles, as well as intestinal health.