1. The distribution of copper, zinc and manganese in seven regions of the brain, liver, heart, muscle from the abdominal wall, and skin of children was determined by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry.

2. The results showed significantly lower levels of Cu, Zn and Mn in livers of children with kwashiorkor compared with control subjects. The concentrations of these three elements were higher in livers of children with marasmus than in livers of children suffering from kwashiorkor and not significantly different from those of control subjects.

3. The Cu concentration in muscle obtained from the abdominal wall of subjects with kwashiorkor and the Mn concentration in heart muscle of all groups with protein-calorie malnutrition were significantly lower than the respective values for the control group.

4. There was no significant difference between Cu, Zn or Mn concentration in brain tissues of control subjects and in those with protein-calorie malnutrition.

1. Freeze-dried cod muscle and casein were subjected to various conditions of heat treat-ment. Diets containing the different products, or the unheated materials, were given to a group of four adult male rats during successive 48 h periods, and urine was collected during the second 24 h of each 48 h period. A further collection of urine was made from the rats after they had been given protein isolated from heated skim-milk powder. The content and amino acid composition of the ‘peptide’ and ‘free amino acids’ in the urines were determined.

2. Heat damage to the cod-fillet protein increased the total urinary excretion of peptide-bound amino acids, from 18·6 to 48·8 µmol/rat.d. The composition of the peptide also changed, and in particular there was a marked increase in lysine, from 2·98 to 20·30 µmol %. Three amino acids - lysine, aspartic acid and glutamic acid - together comprised nearly 70 % of the total amino acid residues. There was a corresponding increase in urinary excretion of free amino acids, from 53·7 to I 14·4 µmol/rat.d. The combined losses of lysine in urinary peptide and free amino acids were 1·5 % of the total lysine ingested, as against 0·3 % for the unheated cod fillet.

3. The effects of similar heat treatment of casein on the composition of the urinary peptide and free amino acids were less marked. There was no increase in total urinary peptide excretion and there was a smaller increase in the lysine content of the peptide.

4. In urine of rats given protein isolated from heated skim-milk powder, the peptide hydro-lysate was rich in lysine and in furosine, which together comprised 41 mol % of the total amino acid composition. These compounds were presumably formed, together with a smaller quantity of pyridosine, from lysine-carbohydrate complex in the urine. It is probable that, as compared with free lysine, the lysine-carbohydrate complex was absorbed relatively in-efficiently from the rat intestine.

5. The findings are discussed in relation to the wider question of the metabolism of the ‚unavailable peptide’ that is released in the course of digestion of heat-damaged protein.

1. The winged bean (Psophocarpus palustris Desv.) has been grown successfully for several seasons, on an experimental basis, in the forest belt of Ghana, where earlier attempts to grow the soya bean had proved unsatisfactory.

2. Although botanically different, the composition of the dry seeds was found to be very similar to that of the soya bean, containing 37·3% protein, 18·1% fat, 13·9 ppm thiamin and 1·8 ppm riboflavin. The oil of the seeds contained 125·9 mg tocopherol (γ + β) per 100 g. The amino acid composition of the protein was very similar to that of the soya bean, with methionine as the first-limiting amino acid. The content of unsaturated fatty acids and that of poly-unsaturated essential fatty acids were satisfactory.

Active trypsin inhibitor found in the raw seeds could be destroyed satisfactorily by moist heat. No urease activity was detected.

The protein efficiency ratio (PER) and net protein utilization (NPU) of the beans determined with rats, were superior to those of groundnuts. The supplementary value of the protein was shown by mixing two parts of the winged bean and three parts of maize flour. When adjusted to either 10% or 16% protein, the PER values of these mixtures were similar to those of skim milk. At the 16% protein level, addition of skim milk or 0·3% DL-methionine to this mixture produced only an insignificant improvement in PER value.

The pleasant, sweet taste even when in the raw state is one of the advantages of the winged bean. Although, it is a climber, and should be staked, its cultivation on a small scale in selected areas of Ghana is recommended.

1. Four young Friesian bulls with rumen fistulas were given four isocaloric all-concentrate diets containing different amounts and sources of nitrogen in a Latin square arrangement. Diet HP (high-protein) contained 2·31% plant nitrogen; diet MPU (medium-protein with urea) 1·67% plant nitrogen and 0·69% urea nitrogen (total 2·36%); diet LPU (low-protein with urea) 0·95% plant nitrogen and 0·69% urea nitrogen (total 1·65%); diet HPU (high-protein with urea) 2·28% plant nitrogen and 0·69% urea nitrogen (total 2·97%), calculated on an air-dry basis.

2. The rumen pH varied between 5·8 and 6·1 with diets HP, MPU and HPU, but was significantly lower with diet LPU with values between 5·4 and 5·8.

3. The results showed no differences between the isonitrogenous diets HP and MPU except that replacement of plant nitrogen with urea was followed by an increase in the concentration of ammonia in the rumen. With the diets containing urea, the concentrations of rumen ammonia varied inversely with the amount of dietary plant nitrogen supplied, indicating a negative effect of plant nitrogen on urea utilization.

4. Concentrations of alkali-labile nitrogen (amide) were not increased with diets containing urea except with diet HPU, which produced the highest concentrations of ammonia in the rumen.

5. The concentration of true protein in the rumen and the amino acid distribution were similar with all four diets, indicating the ability of the microflora to adapt to qualitative and quantitative differences in dietary nitrogen intake.

6. Ration acceptability was lower with diets LPU and HPU than with diets HP and MPU.

7. Large differences between individual animals in rumen pH, percentage of dry matter and total nitrogen concentration in the rumen were noted.

1. Sour maize pap fortified with soya (Soy-Ogi), developed at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi, Nigeria has been evaluated chemically for its nutrient composition, biologically for protein quality and toxicity, and therapeutically on patients with kwashiorkor.

2. The indications are that it is a complete protein food suitable for feeding to children after weaning, and it compares favourably and economically with milk foods.

3. It was successfully used to restore normal health to children suffering from kwashiorkor.

1. The course of digestion of freeze-dried and heat-damaged egg albumen labelled with 14C in all its constituent amino acids was compared in germ-free and conventional chicks. The albumen was given at a level of 10% in a test meal containing 28% protein. Samples of digesta were taken 5 h later and analysed for 14C and nitrogenous constituents.

2. After administration of unheated albumen, 11% of the 14C remained in the germ-free gut, compared with 23% in the conventional gut. The poorer digestibility of the heat-damaged albumen was shown by recovery of 42 and 47% of the 14C from the gut of germ-free and conventional birds respectively.

3. With both diets there was a higher 14C: nitrogen ratio in the contents of the lower gut of conventional birds. Most of the N remaining in the gut was composed of protein or the hydrolysis products of protein, the amounts of which tended to be higher in the germ-free environment; urea and uric acid formed only a small proportion of the total N. There was less urea and more uric acid in the lower gut and excreta of conventional chicks.

4. It was concluded that microbial activity did little to increase the availability of protein to the chick. However, its effect on the nitrogenous material in the lower part of the alimentary tract might result in low recovery of N in the faeces and thus lead to erroneously high estimates of protein quality in tests with conventional chicks.

1. In the first of two experiments four sheep were fed on dried grass and oat straw in the following combination: (1)straw eaten to appetite and an equal quantity given via a rumen fistula, (2)straw eaten and grass by fistula, (3)grass eaten and straw by fistula, (4)grass eaten and grass by fistula. Mean daily dry-matter intakes (g/kg metabolic live weight, W0·75) for the four treatments respectively were: 13·3, 23·2, 47·8 and 59·4. Dry-matter digestibility coefficients (%) were 37·2, 53·1, 53·3 and 71·3. Changing the digestibility of the diet without changing the component eaten (1 v.2; 3v.4) had a large effect on intake, but changing the component eaten without changing digestibility (2v. 3) caused a twofold change in intake. The latter result implied a difference in palatability between the feeds.

2. The quantities of digesta in the rumen, determined by removal before and after feeding, were generally twice as great for treatments 3 and 4 as for 1 and 2. There were corresponding differences between treatments in the rates of passage of stained particles of feed and of chromic oxide.

3. In the second experiment the treatments were the same except that meadow hay replaced oat straw. Mean daily dry-matter intakes (g/kg W0·75) were 41·7, 55·1, 59·9 and 68·7 for treatment 1 to 4 respectively, and digestibility coefficient were 54·0, 61·3, 62·3 and 72·0. In this experiment there appeared to be only a small difference in the palatability of the feed.

1. An analytical scheme for the separation and identification of carbohydrates in food, duodenal contents and faeces of sheep is described.

2. This scheme was applied to three sheep and one goat given hay diets, and the quantities of carbohydrates disappearing from the rumen and intestine respectively were assessed by reference to faecal lignin. Results indicated that 95–100% of digestible cellulose and 96–99% of digestible pentosan disappeared from the rumen.

3. In an investigation of the microbial fraction of duodenal contents in the goat it was estimated that approximately 6 g carbohydrate passed to the duodenum per 24 h. Glucose accounted for a little over half of this amount.

1. Black-hooded weanling rats were given a copper-deficient diet or diets providing 3 ppm Cu with or without supplements containing combinations of molybdate, sulphate and sulphide salts to provide 35 ppm molybdenum and 2μg atoms sulphur/g. Changes in weight and blood haemoglobin concentration were studied during 48 d of treatment. The subcellular distribution of Cu and Mo in the liver was subsequently determined.

2. Rats fed on the Cu-deficient diet had a lower growth rate than animals receiving 3 ppm Cu and suffered a decline in blood haemoglobin concentration; Mo supplementation of the diet providing 3 ppm Cu produced similar adverse effects on growth but not on Hb. Effects of Mo on growth were exacerbated by a sulphide supplement which also decreased the rate of the gain in Hb concentration. This concentration of dietary sulphide was without effect when Mo was omitted from the diet.

3. The Cu-deficient diet decreased both the Cu concentration and proportion of total liver Cu in mitochondria + microsome and supernatant fractions of liver.

4. Mo-supplemented diets greatly increased both the Cu and Mo contents of all liver fractions. This phenomenon is considered in relation to previous suggestions that an unavailable Cu–Mo complex can form in tissues as a response to Mo accumulation.

1. The changes in the lipid compositon of livers from lambs receiving either ewe's milk or a reconstituted low-fat milk powder have been studies during the first 8 d after birth.

2. At birth the phospholipid and unesterified fatty acid fractions constituted the major proportion of the liver lipids. In the lambs on the artificial diet the relative concentration of the phospholipid fraction increased and there were corresponding decreases in the relative concentrations of all the other fractions, whereas in the naturally fed lambs the relative concentration of the phospholipids remained similar to that found in the livers at birth.

3. In the liver lipids at birth there were only low concentration of the C18 polyunsaturated fatty acids, althoughts there were appreciable concentrations of the higher C20 and C22 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

4. After birth there was a large increase in the concentration of the C18 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the livers of the lambs on the natural diet and a decrease in the 20:3ω9:20:4ω6 (triene:tetraene) ratio. In the lambs receiving the artificial diet the concentration of the C18 polyunsaturated fatty acids and the trience:tetraene ration remained similar to that observed at birth.

5. These changes are discussed in relationship to the metabolism of the essential fatty acid in monogastric animals.

1. Analysis of whole daily diets of normal subjects and of diets prepared in hospital to resemble the home diets of ambulant hospital patients showed that the majority of diets in Britain have a vitamin E content less than the lowest recommended intake of 5 mg/d, despite being generally satisfactory in calorie, protein and fat contents.

2. Comparison of measured intake of vitamin E with the intake calculated from food tables showed that the use of such tables may be unreliable.

3. Analyses of selected representative foods and of duplicate whole diets showed that the variations between measured vitamin E content of diets and those calculated from tables may be largely due to the great variability of tocopherol concentration in apparently similar samples of food.

1. The heights and weights and the serum total protein concentration and ratio nonessential to essential amino acids (NEA:EA ratio) were determined in twenty-six Indian children, aged from 1·5 to 5 years, suffering from early protein-calorie malnutrition (pre-kwashiorkor children).

2. The heights and weights of the majority of the children approximated to 75–85% of the values for normal Indian children. The serum NEA:EA ratio of the children varied from 2·5 to 4·0. There was no correlation between this ratio and weight deficit. In healthy children of the same socio-economic group, the serum NEA:EA ratio varied from 1·5 to 2·1 with a mean of 1·7. The results show that the NEA:EA ratio may be useful as an index for the detection of pre-kwashiorkor conditions.

3. There was a significant (P < 0·05) negative correlation (r = −0·45) between serum albumin and NEA:EA ratio of the children. All the children showed consistently a significant increase in serum γ-globulin.