The Humane Future of PDCAAS Testing

April 26, 2022

Peanuts in a glass

Using a Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) to evaluate a food’s protein quality has been an industry standard for decades across food, supplements, and animal feed. It’s vital to have a reliable, standard measure to determine protein quality, and PDCAAS is required by most regulatory bodies when asserting nutritional claims about protein content.

In 1993, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made PDCAAS the official standard for protein digestibility testing. Testing is needed to accurately reflect protein quality on a label and make nutritional claims because it can vary significantly across different protein sources.

There are three key parameters used to measure a sample’s PDCAAS.

  1. Amino acid analysis
  2. Total protein
  3. Protein digestibility

Historically, protein quality score has been the most labor-intensive and costly element of digestibility analysis. Partnering with Medallion Labs and their Animal-Safe Accurate Protein (ASAP) Quality Score method, the Megazyme Protein Digestibility Assay Kit (K-PDCAAS) is set to revolutionize measuring protein quality scores.

Until now, in vitro protein digestibility could only be determined using a lengthy, resource-intensive rat study. The ASAP-Quality Score can be determined in a standard analytical laboratory in hours. Our Protein Digestibility Assay Kit offers significant advantages over traditional methods in cost, convenience, speed, and animal welfare.

The ASAP-quality score method used in our test kits offers critical advantages over traditional rat-based animal studies.

  • Rapid results (same-day vs. 2–3 months)
  • Significantly more cost effective per test
  • Ethical testing method (eliminates animal testing)

It eliminates the need for animal studies, meaning no animals are harmed while still obtaining protein quality score values consistent with traditional animal studies. Discover how our Megazyme Protein Digestibility Assay Kit provides cost-effective, rapid, and humane PDCAAS testing and can improve your results.


Category: Food Safety, Dietary Supplements, Food & Beverage