High protein corn protein (HPCP) is a corn co-product derived from the ethanol industry that contains between 40 and 50% crude protein, and therefore, may be used in diets for pigs as a source of amino acids (AA). However, such diets will contain more than twice as much Leu as recommended and there is a negative relationship between dietary Leu and brain synthesis of serotonin, which results in reduced feed intake of pigs fed diets containing excess Leu. There is also a reduced protein synthesis because of increased Val and Ile metabolism due to excess dietary Leu. As a consequence, pigs often have reduced growth performance if fed diets with high concentrations of HPCP. However, it may be possible to counteract the negative effects of the high Leu concentrations in corn co-products by adding crystalline sources of Trp, Val, and Ile to the diets and it may, therefore, be possible that HPCP can be used in diets without influencing growth performance or intestinal health of weanling pigs. Therefore, the hypothesis that HPCP may be used as the primary source of AA in diets for weanling pigs if diets are fortified with crystalline AA was tested. 

Corn coproducts produced from the fuel ethanol or the wet milling industries may be used in diets fed to pigs. Newly developed corn proteins are high protein feed ingredients with approximately 40 to 50% crude protein (CP), and corn protein may be a great source of digestible amino acids (AA) in diets fed to weanling pigs. There are, however, limited data on the digestibility of AA in different sources of corn protein fed to weanling pigs. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to test the null hypothesis that there is no difference in the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of AA in 3 different sources of corn protein when fed to weanling pigs.

Acosta, J. P., C. D. Espinosa, N. Jaworski, and H. H. Stein. 2021. A Corn Protein Product Has Greater Concentration of Digestible Amino Acids and Energy Than Low-oil Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles When Fed to Pigs and May Be Used in Diets for Weanling Pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 99(Suppl. 1): 85–86. doi.org/10.1093/jas/skab054.139. Link to Abstract.

A new source of corn protein (NexPro) that is produced from the ethanol industry has been developed by Flint Hills Resources (Wichita, KS). NexPro contains approximately 50% crude protein and the digestibility of amino acids was reported in our November, 2020, Newsletter. However, there is at this time no information about the concentration of digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) in this new source of protein. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to test the hypothesis that concentrations of DE and ME in corn protein are greater than in 2 sources of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS; i.e., DDGS-1 and DDGS-2) when fed to growing pigs.