Proteins - Biological value

Biological value of proteins in food

What are ?

A protein is a chain of amino acids. Each protein has a different number and sequence of amino acids. There are 20 different amino acids in total, providing the basis for proteins. Eight of these amino acids cannot be built by the human body and are therefore consumed in our food. They are called essential amino acids. However, we do not need the same amount of every .

What is known as the biological value for the human body can be calculated based on the amino acid profile of proteins (see diagram). The higher this value, the higher the biological value. Of all the proteins, whey proteins have the highest biological value.

Further information