World Balance of Dietary Essential Amino Acids Relative to the 1989 Fao/Who Protein Scoring Pattern

Abstract

The world imbalance of dietary essential amino acids was studied using the latest available protein-supply data (1987–89) and the revised 1989 FAO/WHO protein scoring pattern in comparison with the 1973 FAO/WHO pattern, the 1985 FAO/WHO/UNU pattern, and a pattern proposed by Young et al. in 1989. The results obtained using the 1989 FAO/WHO scoring pattern indicate that the first limiting amino acid for developed countries is usually tryptophan, and that for developing countries is mainly lysine. Similar findings resulted with the Young pattern, but results using the 1973 and 1985 patterns differed substantially. On the basis of the 1989 FAO/WHO pattern, lysine was found to be the first limiting amino acid in the dietary protein supplies of 121 of the 164 countries studied worldwide; it is estimated that the total lysine deficiency in these 121 countries, the amount that would be needed to bring it to the level of the second limiting amino acid, was 1.15 million metric tons per year for 1987–89. In addition, same global correlations of protein and amino acid supplies with gross domestic product were recalculated in US dollars at 1985 prices.