Nutritional qualities of different wheat varieties grown in North West Frontier Pakistan

Eight wheat (Triticum aestivum) varieties grown in NWFP were selected for this study. These varieties were grown under identical conditions during the two consecutive crop years at Cereal Crop Research Institute, Pirsabak, Nowshera by applying similar inputs. Each year the wheat cultivars were planted during second week of November and harvested in first week of June. The collected samples were thoroughly cleaned; tempered and whole-wheat flour was prepared. The samples were packaged in polyethylene bags for further studies. Results pertaining to In vitro protein digestibility of these varieties showed non-significant influence for the crop years. The wheat varieties were also found to be statistically non-significant, however numerical differences were observed for the wheat varieties. The experiments were carried out on weight gain, net protein utilization, protein efficiency ratio (PER), true digestibility and biological values by feeding trials on albino rats. The weight gain due to diets prepared from different wheat varieties did not differ widely. The PER was calculated on the basis of rat growth method for a total period of 28 days. The results in Table III indicated that crop year did not affect the protein efficiency ratio, NPU, TD and BV of different wheat varieties; however the experimental diets prepared from different wheat varieties showed significant variation for these parameter in both the crop years.