Signs of malnutrition were observed in mice fed raw pejibaye (Bactris gasipaes) meal as a substitute of corn in the feed. No problems appeared when the animals were fed the sarne mixtures previously autoclaved. An aqueous extract of pejibaye meal inhibited the caseinolytic action of porcine pancreatine. The inhibiting effect disappeared when boiling the extract for one hour upon dialysis. ApparentIy a relatively low molecular weight pro tease inhibitor is present in raw pejibaye meal.
