GLOSSARY

Dietary Protein Quality applies protein quality to dietary sources and mixtures. It is not a new independent metric; method and source-versus-mixture scope must be specified.

Nutritional protein quality concerns essential-amino-acid pattern and usability relative to requirements. It does not rate all food properties such as fibre, fat, salt or price. A tiny amount of a highly scored protein may not meet daily needs, while a lower score does not make a food nutritionally useless.

Scoring commonly expresses amino acids as milligrams per gram of protein and compares them with an age-specific pattern. That differs from a daily requirement in milligrams per kilogram of body mass. Without knowing age group, method and denominator, comparing two quality numbers can be misleading rather than informative.

The limiting amino acid has the lowest supply ratio against the reference, not necessarily the smallest absolute amount or complete absence. Changing sources or quantities changes adequacy. Unlimited addition of one amino acid does not solve every dietary gap; the whole mixture and its actual intake need to be assessed.