Assessment of rat growth methods for estimating protein quality: interlaboratory study.

An interlaboratory study involving protein efficiency ratio (PER), net protein ratio (NPR), relative NPR (RNPR) and relative nitrogen utilization (RNU) was carried out. Six collaborators assayed 6 samples, including casein plus methionine which was used as a reference protein. Collaborators prepared their own diets and analyzed the diets for nitrogen. Test proteins were added at the 8% level (N X 6.25). PER values varied more than NPR values which varied more than either RNPR or RNU. RNU and RNPR produced almost identical values, but RNPR remains the official method of choice, because it is a well established method.