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Food Values and Adulterations: Lean

The proportion of proteid present in meats and fish varies greatly with the kind and cut. In beef, veal, and mutton it composes between 14 and 26 per cent of the edible portion. It is somewhat less abundant in the flesh of fish, because the latter is more watery than meat. The fatter the meat, the smaller is the proportion of proteid. Lean pork has less than beef and mutton, and fat pork almost none. It is very abundant in cheese (28-38 per cent) and likewise in dried beans and peas (18-25 per cent). Proteid makes up, roughly speaking, from 7 to 15 per cent of the cereals, being least abundant in rye and buckwheat and most abundant in oats. Wheat flour averages not far from 11 per cent and bread not far from 9 per cent of proteid.

Fresh vegetables and fruits contain almost no proteid, seldom if ever more than 5 and often only 1 per cent or less.