Free protein quality tool

PDCAAS Calculator

Find the limiting amino acid and amino acid score for any recipe. Enter ingredients manually or upload a ReciPal nutrition breakdown CSV.

How it works

  1. Add each protein-contributing ingredient.
  2. Enter total mg of each essential amino acid.
  3. We divide by total protein and compare to the FAO/WHO reference.

Ingredients

Enter each protein-contributing ingredient with its grams of protein and total mg of each essential amino acid.

Essential amino acids (mg)

Results

Each amino acid score = (mg amino acid per g protein) ÷ reference value.

Total protein

0.00 g

Lowest amino acid score

Limiting amino acid

Enter at least one ingredient with protein and amino acid values to see results.

Essential amino acidTotal (mg)Actual (mg/g protein)ReferenceScore
Histidine
00.0019
Isoleucine
00.0028
Leucine
00.0066
Lysine
00.0058
Methionine + Cystine
00.0025
Phenylalanine + Tyrosine
00.0063
Threonine
00.0034
Tryptophan
00.0011
Valine
00.0035

A note on the CSV import

The ReciPal nutrition breakdown CSV provides total grams of protein per ingredient but does not include amino acid composition. After uploading, you'll still need to fill in essential amino acid values (commonly available from USDA FoodData Central or supplier specs).