## 3 Results and Discussion
### Amino Acid Composition
The ratios of branched  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Sample**} & **Moisture** & **Crude Protein** & **Total Carbohydrate** & **Crude Fat** & **Ash** \\  & **(g/100 g)** & **(g/100 g)** & **(g/100 g)** & **(g/100 g)** & **(g/100 g)** \\ \hline barley grass & 6.41 \(\pm\) 0.29 \({}^{\text{ef}}\) & 6.61 \(\pm\) 0.29 \({}^{\text{fg}}\) & 78.31 \(\pm\) 0.42 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 2.38 \(\pm\) 0.11 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 6.29 \(\pm\) 0.10 \({}^{\text{e}}\) \\ wheat grass & 6.18 \(\pm\) 0.33 \({}^{\text{f}}\) & 14.38 \(\pm\) 0.24 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 66.28 \(\pm\) 0.32 \({}^{\text{e}}\) & 5.28 \(\pm\) 0.29 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 7.89 \(\pm\) 0.05 \({}^{\text{d}}\) \\ spinach & 6.36 \(\pm\) 0.13 \({}^{\text{f}}\) & 15.31 \(\pm\) 0.35 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 58.86 \(\pm\) 0.25 \({}^{\text{g}}\) & 2.86 \(\pm\) 0.17 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 16.61 \(\pm\) 0.09 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ beetroot & 6.49 \(\pm\) 0.29 \({}^{\text{def}}\) & 5.91 \(\pm\) 0.35 \({}^{\text{gh}}\) & 82.89 \(\pm\) 0.50 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) & 0.25 \(\pm\) 0.08 \({}^{\text{f}}\) & 4.47 \(\pm\) 0.17 \({}^{\text{g}}\) \\ sea buckthorn & 4.23 \(\pm\) 0.17 \({}^{\text{g}}\) & 5.87 \(\pm\) 0.31 \({}^{\text{gh}}\) & 76.20 \(\pm\) 0.32 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 12.42 \(\pm\) 0.32 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 1.27 \(\pm\) 0.11 \({}^{\text{i}}\) \\ rosehip & 11.34 \(\pm\) 0.12 \({}^{\text{bc}}\) & 3.07 \(\pm\) 0.32 \({}^{\text{i}}\) & 80.05 \(\pm\) 0.43 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 1.28 \(\pm\) 0.08 \({}^{\text{f}}\) & 4.26 \(\pm\) 0.10 \({}^{\text{g}}\) \\ aronia & 7.41 \(\pm\) 0.07 \({}^{\text{cde}}\) & 5.25 \(\pm\) 0.13 \({}^{\text{h}}\) & 80.84 \(\pm\) 0.08 \({}^{\text{bc}}\) & 4.43 \(\pm\) 0.11 \({}^{\text{c}}\) & 2.06 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\text{gh}}\) \\ acerola & 13.99 \(\pm\) 0.15 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 2.35 \(\pm\) 0.15 \({}^{\text{i}}\) & 76.95 \(\pm\) 0.31 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 0.16 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{f}}\) & 6.55 \(\pm\) 0.27 \({}^{\text{de}}\) \\ goji berry & 12.41 \(\pm\) 0.46 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) & 9.33 \(\pm\) 0.30 \({}^{\text{e}}\) & 65.03 \(\pm\) 0.35 \({}^{\text{e}}\) & 7.07 \(\pm\) 0.17 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 6.16 \(\pm\) 0.14 \({}^{\text{e}}\) \\ lucuma & 10.32 \(\pm\) 0.07 \({}^{\text{bc}}\) & 3.10 \(\pm\) 0.41 \({}^{\text{i}}\) & 83.78 \(\pm\) 0.14 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 1.39 \(\pm\) 0.26 \({}^{\text{ef}}\) & 1.42 \(\pm\) 0.17 \({}^{\text{hi}}\) \\ spirulina & 5.72 \(\pm\) 0.30 \({}^{\text{f}}\) & 55.34 \(\pm\) 1.55 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 32.97 \(\pm\) 0.92 \({}^{\text{i}}\) & 0.83 \(\pm\) 0.14 \({}^{\text{f}}\) & 5.13 \(\pm\) 0.10 \({}^{\text{ef}}\) \\ chlororella & 6.34 \(\pm\) 0.25 \({}^{\text{f}}\) & 45.50 \(\pm\) 1.80 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 41.55 \(\pm\) 1.61 \({}^{\text{h}}\) & 2.94 \(\pm\) 0.19 \({}^{\text{d}}\) & 3.68 \(\pm\) 0.09 \({}^{\text{g}}\) \\ duckweed & 7.73 \(\pm\) 0.25 \({}^{\text{cde}}\)  
chain amino acids ranged between 12.2 (goji berry powder) and 21.0 (spirulina powder), with an average of 16.9 and a median of 17.1. Figure 2 presents the distribution of essential amino acids in the samples in comparison with the reference protein [41]. The more similar the relative composition of amino acids to the human requirement, the better the quality. The essential amino acid present in the lowest ratio in a protein relative to the reference protein is referred to as the limiting amino acid. Plant foods are generally deficient in certain amino acids, mostly in methionine and/or lysine. Proteins that contain high amounts of these amino acids can be effectively used to complement plant proteins, to obtain foods with a higher nutritional quality [42]. In general, our samples were deficient in valine, sulfur-containing amino acids (methionine, cysteine), lysine, and isoleucine. On the other hand, threonine, aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine, tyrosine), and leucine were generally abundant. Most samples contained histidine in lower ratios compared to the reference protein, except for powders of beetroot and fruits.