Diets containing various ratios of lime treated corn flour (Nixtamal) and hydrolyzed fish protein (HFP) were fed to rats for a period of 28 days. Increasing the proportion of dietary protein supplied by HFP was associated with a statistically significant quadratic increase in body weight gain and protein efficiency ratio. A high correlation between protein efficiency ratio and amino acid score was obtained. It is suggested that high lysine and low leucine contents of hydrolyzed fish protein are responsible for the marked improvement of the nutritional value of nixtamal based diets. Replacement of 25% of the lime treated corn with hydrolyzed fish protein might markedly improve the nutritional value of the mexican tortilla.

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