Amino acid digestibility in soybean meal produced in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, India, or China

Soybean meal is the premier source of high quality plant protein for pig diets. However, the nutritional value of soybean meal can vary among sources due to genetic differences in soybean varieties or differences in climate, soil type, fertilizer application, or processing conditions. It is important that these variations be documented so that producers can accurately formulate diets. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine if standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of crude protein and amino acids varied among sources of soybean meal from the U.S., Brazil, Argentina, India, or China.

Materials and methods

A total of 24 different samples of soybean meal were used in this study. Five samples were collected from the United States, Brazil, Argentina, and China, and four were collected from India.

Twenty-five growing barrows with an average initial body weight of 30.53 kg were equipped with a T-cannula in the distal ileum. In each of 8 periods, each barrow was fed one of 25 diets, so that there were 8 replications for each diet. One diet was an N-free cornstarch-based diet that was used to estimate basal endogenous losses of protein and amino acids. The other 24 diets were based on a mixture of cornstarch and each of the 24 sources of soybean meal.

Protein and amino acid composition

The concentration of crude protein was greatest (P < 0.05) in soybean meal sourced from Brazil and India, and least (P < 0.05) in soybean meal from China (Table 1). The mean of all indispensable amino acids was greatest (P < 0.05) in soybean meal from Brazil, the U.S., and India, and least (P < 0.05) in soybean meal from China.

Digestibility of crude protein and amino acids

The standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of crude protein and most amino acids was greater (P < 0.05) in soybean meal from the U.S. compared with soybean meal from Brazil, Argentina, and India (Table 2). There were no differences in SID of amino acids among soybean meals sourced from the U.S. and from China; however, the SID of crude protein was greater (P < 0.05) in U.S. soybean meal than in soybean meal from China. The SID of most amino acids was not different among soybean meal samples from Argentina, Brazil, and India.

Key points

Growing conditions and genetic differences affected nutrient composition and digestibility among samples of soybean meal from different countries.
Soybean meal from China contained less protein and indispensable amino acids than soybean meal from the U.S., Brazil, or India.
The standardized ileal digestibility of crude protein and amino acids is similar in soybean meal from U.S. and China, and generally greater in soybean meal from those countries than in soybean meal from Argentina, Brazil, and India.

Table 1. Concentration of crude protein and amino acids in soybean meal collected from China, Argentina, Brazil, the U.S., and India (normalized to 88% DM basis)

	Country
Item	China	Argentina	Brazil	U.S.	India	SEM	P-value
CP, %	45.1^c	46.7^b	49.3^a	47.3^b	49.5^a	0.54	<0.001
Indispensable AA, %
Arg	3.27^b	3.27^b	3.41^ab	3.42^a	3.53^a	0.05	0.088
His	1.25^c	1.33^b	1.36^b	1.37^ab	1.41^a	0.02	<0.001
Ile	2.07^d	2.16^cd	2.34^a	2.24^bc	2.31^ab	0.03	<0.001
Leu	3.33^c	3.57^b	3.76^a	3.66^ab	3.75^a	0.05	<0.001
Lys	2.85^c	2.96^bc	3.05^ab	3.07^ab	3.12^a	0.04	0.001
Met	0.61^b	0.63^ab	0.64^a	0.65^a	0.66^a	0.01	0.049
Phe	2.20^c	2.38^b	2.52^a	2.42^ab	2.49^ab	0.04	<0.001
Thr	1.62^b	1.77^a	1.80^a	1.78^a	1.82^a	0.03	<0.001
Trp	0.65^b	0.69^a	0.69^a	0.70^a	0.67^ab	0.01	0.016
Val	2.14^c	2.25^b	2.40^a	2.33^ab	2.39^a	0.03	<0.001
Total	20.0^c	21.0^b	22.0^a	21.6^ab	22.21^a	0.29	<0.001
Dispensable AA, %
Ala	1.84^c	2.00^b	2. 09^a	2.03^ab	2.06^ab	0.03	<0.001
Asp	4.82^c	5.03^b	5.33^a	5.22^ab	5.42^a	0.07	<0.001
Cys	0.63	0.60	0.62	0.63	0.63	0.01	0.138
Glu	7.79^c	8.08^bc	8.58^a	8.43^ab	8.70^a	0.13	<0.001
Gly	1.81^d	1.93^c	2.04^ab	1.98^bc	2.06^a	0.02	<0.001
Pro	2.07^c	2.20^b	2.32^a	2.28^ab	2.39^a	0.04	<0.001
Ser	1.93^b	2.09^a	2.17^a	2.08^a	2.18^a	0.04	0.003
Tyr	1.49^b	1.68^a	1.73^a	1.68^a	1.71^a	0.04	0.002
Total	22.4^c	23.6^b	24.9^a	24.3^ab	25.1^a	0.34	<0.001
All AA	42.8^c	45.1^b	47.5^a	46.5^ab	47.8^a	0.62	<0.001
Lys:CP ratio	6.22^b	6.25^b	6.15^b	6.45^a	6.29^ab	0.04	0.014

^a-cMeans within a row lacking a common superscript letter are different (P < 0.05).

Table 2. Standardized ileal digestibility of crude protein and amino acids in soybean meal from China, Argentina, Brazil, the U.S., and India

	Country
Item	China	Argentina	Brazil	U.S.	India	SEM	P-value
CP, %	91.9^b	91.1^bc	90.9^bc	93.8^a	89.9^c	0.84	<0.001
Indispensable AA, %
Arg	96.8^ab	95.6^c	95.6^c	96.9^a	95.9^bc	0.49	0.003
His	93.5^a	92.1^b	92.1^b	93.8^a	92.3^b	0.61	0.002
Ile	92.6^ab	91.6^b	91.7^b	93.4^a	91.5^b	0.59	0.004
Leu	92.3^ab	91.0^c	91.2^bc	92.9^a	90.9^c	0.61	0.001
Lys	92.1^ab	90.0^c	90.6^bc	92.9^a	90.8^bc	0.79	0.002
Met	94.4^ab	93.5^bc	93.6^abc	94.7^a	92.7^c	0.54	0.007
Phe	92.5^ab	90.9^c	91.6^bc	93.0^a	91.4^bc	0.59	0.001
Thr	90.2^a	88.5^b	88.4^b	90.8^a	88.2^b	0.82	0.004
Trp	93.7^ab	93.0^b	92.6^bc	94.3^a	91.7^c	0.56	<0.001
Val	90.6^ab	89.3^bc	89.0^c	91.4^a	88.9^c	0.74	0.002
Mean	92.9^a	91.4^b	91.6^b	93.4^a	91.5^b	0.62	0.001
Dispensable AA, %
Ala	91.7^a	89.9^b	89.9^b	92.5^a	89.5^b	0.91	0.002
Asp	90.2^a	88.6^b	88.7^b	91.1^a	89.8^ab	0.81	0.003
Cys	86.3^a	81.5^b	81.6^b	86.2^a	83.6^ab	1.47	<0.001
Glu	90.9^ab	88.7^c	89.4^bc	91.7^a	90.9^ab	0.91	0.002
Gly	93.8^ab	92.3^bc	90.5^c	96.1^a	91.9^bc	1.66	0.012
Ser	93.8^ab	92.5^b	91.0^c	94.2^a	92.3^bc	0.64	<0.001
Tyr	92.0^ab	91.0^bc	90.5^c	92.8^a	91.1^bc	0.57	0.003
Mean	97.0^ab	95.3^c	94.8^c	97.7^a	95.6^bc	0.34	0.002
All AA	94.9^ab	93.4^c	93.3^c	95.6^a	93.6^bc	22.7	0.002

^a-cMeans within a row lacking a common superscript letter are different (P < 0.05).

This report is based on unpublished research by Vanessa Lagos and Hans H. Stein.

Keywords:

Amino acid digestibility, Soybean meal

Authors:

Lagos, Stein

Publication Type:

Research Reports

Hans H. Stein

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Amino acid digestibility in soybean meal produced in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, India, or China

Materials and methods

Protein and amino acid composition

Digestibility of crude protein and amino acids

Key points