Local High-Protein, Plant-Based Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food Enhances Recovery from Malnutrition in Rats

Infant child malnutrition is a major public health issue. We conducted a preclinical study with young rats to mimic the conditions of child malnutrition (combined wasting and stunting) and evaluate recovery using a novel plant-based ready-to-use-therapeutic food (RUTF) formulation. Three-week old female Sprague Dawley rats were assigned to six treatments groups in a 6-week experiment. The treatments included: 1) control balanced diet (CT), 2) A protein-deficient diet to induce malnutrition (MN), 3) and 4) A control balanced diet followed by either commercial RUTF (CT-PM) or a locally produced plant-based RUTF (CT-ChSMS), and 5) and 6) a protein deficient diet followed by either commercial RUTF (MN-PM) or locally produced plant based RUTF (MN-ChSMS), respectively. In treatments 3-6, rats were initially fed either a control-balanced or protein-deficient diet for 3 weeks, followed by 3 weeks of either the commercial or the locally plant-based RUTF. Results showed that rats in the CT-ChSMS group exhibited growth and weight comparable to CT group, while those in the MN-PM group showed no significant improvement compared to the MN group. Notably, rats in the MN-ChSMS group demonstrated significant catch-up growth, whereas those in the MN-PM group did not. Additionally, consumption of ChSMS and PM RUTFs differed significantly. ChSMS RUTF which contained 14% protein over total energy with better amino-acid composition and a higher Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS), resulted in significantly greater weight gain and length compared to PM RUTF, which contained 10% protein over total energy. These findings indicate that a locally produced, culturally acceptable and affordable plant-based RUTF formulated with high protein quality and quantity may be effective in treating acute and chronic malnutrition in children.