Date of Award
1933
Document Type
Thesis
Keywords
Proteins, Amino Acids, Nutrition, Protein Metabolism, Home Economics, Complete Proteins, Nitrogen Balance, Protein Classification, Dietary Requirements, Biochemistry
Abstract
This thesis, submitted to Xavier University in 1933, surveys the chemical classification of proteins and their role in human nutrition, with the stated aim of preparing home economics students to understand protein's function in the diet. Jones organizes proteins into three major classes: simple proteins, including albumins, globulins, glutelins, protamins, and histones; conjugated proteins, including nucleo-proteins, glyco-proteins, phospho-proteins, and hemoglobins; and derived proteins, including albumoses, peptones, and peptids, describing the chemical composition, solubility properties, and sources of each.
The thesis then examines amino acids as the end products of protein digestion, identifying those essential for growth and maintenance, including tryptophane, lysine, and histidine, and tracing their absorption and use in tissue building and repair. Jones distinguishes between complete proteins, derived from animal sources and containing amino acids necessary for growth, and incomplete proteins, derived from plant sources and sufficient only for adult maintenance, illustrating this distinction with Mary Swartz Rose's comparative feeding study of zein and casein in laboratory rats. The thesis concludes with a discussion of protein requirements across different populations, including growing children, nursing mothers, athletes, convalescents, and sedentary adults, and warns of the metabolic consequences, including nutritional disease of the liver and kidneys, that result from using protein as an energy source in place of adequate carbohydrate and fat intake.
Note: No original abstract was included; this abstract is provided by the XULA Digital Commons editors.
Recommended Citation
Jones, Marguerite, "Autobiography of Proteins In Nutrients" (1933). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 154.
https://digitalcommons.xula.edu/etd/154
Included in
Biochemistry Commons, Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Commons, Family and Consumer Sciences Commons