What Is Protein Conversion Factor

nitrogen conversion factor Factor by which nitrogen content of a foodstuff is multiplied to determine the protein content; it depends on the amino acid composition of the protein. … ‘Crude protein’ is defined as N × 6.25.

How do you calculate protein conversion factor?

On the basis of early determinations, the average nitrogen (N) content of proteins was found to be about 16 percent, which led to use of the calculation N x 6.25 (1/0.16 = 6.25) to convert nitrogen content into protein content. This use of a single factor, 6.25, is confounded by two considerations.

Why is the conversion factor from Kjeldahl nitrogen to protein different for various foods and how is the factor of 6.25 obtained?

The conversion from Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen to protein depends on the type of protein present in the sample and what fraction of the protein is composed of nitrogenous amino acids, like arginine and histidine. Different proteins need different correction factors because they have different amino acid sequences.