Almeida, F. N., R. C. Sulabo, and H. H. Stein. 2014. Amino acid digestibility and concentration of digestible and metabolizable energy in a threonine biomass product fed to weanling pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 92:4540-4546. Link to full text (.pdf)

Curry, S. M., D. M. D. L. Navarro, F. N. Almeida, J. A. S. Almeida, and H. H. Stein. 2014. Amino acid digestibility in low-fat distillers dried grains with solubles fed to growing pigs. J. Anim. Sci. Biotechnol. 5:27. Link to full text (.pdf)

Almeida, F. N., J. K. Htoo, J. Thomson, and H. H. Stein. 2014. Effects of heat treatment on the apparent and standardized ileal digestibility of amino acids in canola meal fed to growing pigs. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 187:44-52. Link to full text (.pdf)

Sulabo, R. C., L. I. Chiba, F. N. Almeida, S. D. Brotzge, R. L. Payne, and H. H. Stein. 2013. Amino acid and phosphorus digestibility and concentration of digestible and metabolizable energy in hydrolyzed feather meal fed to growing pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 91:5829-5837. Link to full text (.pdf)

Almeida, F. N. and H. H. Stein. 2013. Efeitos do melhoramento genético e técnicas de processamento na utilização do farelo de soja por suínos. "Americas: International Conference on Soybean Utilization", Oct 22-24, 2013, Bento Gonçalves, RS, Brazil. Link to full text (.pdf)

The production of corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) involves a drying step in which temperature may reach 500°C or greater. The application of heat and moisture to feedstuffs results in the Maillard reaction, which reduces the concentration and digestibility of amino acids. Lysine's chemical structure makes it particularly susceptible to the Maillard reaction. However, during the acid hydrolysis step of amino acid analysis, some lysine is recovered from Maillard products, but this lysine cannot be utilized by the animals, and thus, the amount of digestible lysine in a sample may be overestimated. Therefore, methods other than simple lysine analysis must be used when assessing feed that may be heat damaged.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of heat damage on the digestibility of crude protein and amino acids in corn DDGS fed to growing pigs. A second objective of the experiment was to develop regression equations to predict the concentration of standardized ileal digestible (SID) amino acids in DDGS.

Canola meal is the second most used plant protein source, after soybean meal, in livestock diets. The production of canola meal involves a step in which the meal is treated with steam for 35 to 50 minutes at temperatures from 95 to 115°C. The application of heat and moisture to feedstuffs results in the Maillard reaction, which reduces the concentration and digestibility of amino acids. Lysine is particularly susceptible to the Maillard reaction, so it is important to determine accurate digestible lysine levels in feedstuffs that may be heat damaged. Amino acid analysis that does not account for lysine recovered from acid hydrolysis of Maillard products may overestimate the amount of digestible lysine in a sample. Therefore, methods other than simple lysine analysis must be used when assessing feed that may be heat damaged.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of heat damage on the digestibility of crude protein and amino acids in canola meal fed to growing pigs. Another objective of the experiment was to develop regression equations to predict the concentration of standardized ileal digestible (SID) amino acids in canola meal.

Almeida, F. N., J. K. Htoo, J. Thomson, and H. H. Stein. 2013. Amino acid digestibility in heat damaged distillers dried grains with solubles fed to pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 91(Suppl. 2):110 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

Almeida, F. N., J. K. Htoo, J. Thomson, and H. H. Stein. 2013. Effects of heat damage on the nutritional composition and on the amino acid digestibility of canola meal, sunflower meal, and cottonseed meal fed to pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 91(Suppl. 2):27 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)