Approximation of Protein Quality (DIAAS) of Vegetarian Dishes Served in Restaurants

Abstract

Protein quality (DIAAS) of the most popular vegetarian and meat dishes served by 93 restaurants was calculated using published data on the digestibility of individual amino acids. Protein qualities of the vegetarian dishes were found to be lower than the meat dishes. A considerable number of vegetarian dishes (16.1%) did not contain any proteinaceous ingredient and therefore received a DIAAS value of zero. Meat dishes did not contain any low quality protein and their DIAAS values were higher than 87%. Vegetarian dishes only comprised 15 to 30% of the total number of dishes in most restaurants (60.2%). Pasta (21.5%), vegetable dishes (such as boiled, grilled or sautéed vegetables) (20.4%) and salads (19.4%) were found to be the most-selling vegetarian dishes. Price of the dishes, whether they were vegetarian or not, did not relate to the protein quality of the dishes.