Sorghum is used as an alternative to corn due to its lower cost and wide availability. However, conventional sorghum contains high concentration of tannin and phytate, which act as antinutritional factors. Use of microbial phytase may hydrolyze phytate and subsequently improve P absorption. High-lysine sorghum is a new variety of sorghum which may be comparable to other cereal grains and may serve as alternative to corn for pigs. However, there are at this point no data for effects of adding phytase to diets containing sorghum and no data to demonstrate the nutritional value of high-lysine sorghum.

Therefore, 2 experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that inclusion of 500 phytase units (FTU)/kg of microbial phytase improves the standardized total tract digestibility (STTD) of P in sorghum varieties. The second hypothesis was that the STTD of P, as well as concentrations of digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) in high-lysine sorghum is not different from that of corn and other sources of sorghum.

Navarro, D. M. D. L., E. M. A. M. Bruininx, L. de Jong, and H. H. Stein. 2018. Analysis for low-molecular-weight carbohydrates is needed to account for all energy-contributing nutrients in some feed ingredients, but physical characteristics do not predict in vitro digestibility of dry matter. J. Anim. Sci. 96:532-544. Link to full text

Kil, D. Y., B. G. Kim, and H. H. Stein. 2013. Feed energy evaluation for growing pigs. (Invited Review). Asian-Austr. J. Anim. Sci. 26: 1205-1217. Link to full text (.pdf)

Whey powder is a co-product of the cheese industry, and consists primarily of lactose and protein. The inclusion of whey powder in weanling pig diets improve growth performance; this is believed to be due to the lactose fraction. Because of the demand for whey protein from the human food industry, the protein is sometimes extracted from whey powder. The resulting product is called whey permeate.

Few values for digestible and metabolizable energy in whey permeate have been reported. In addition, the standardized total tract digestibility (STTD) of phosphorus in these ingredients has not been reported. Therefore, two experiments were conducted: the first, to determine the concentrations of digestible and metabolizable energy in whey powder, whey permeate, and low-ash whey permeate; and the second, to determine the apparent and standardized total tract digestibility of phosphorus in the same ingredients.

Rojas, O. J. and H. H. Stein. 2011. Concentration of DE and ME in fermented soybean meal, conventional soybean meal, and fish meal fed to weanling pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 89(E-Suppl. 1):333 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

Goebel, K. P., and H. H. Stein. 2011. Phosphorus digestibility and energy concentration of enzyme-treated and conventional soybean meal fed to weanling pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 89:764–772. Link to full text (.pdf)

Kim, B. G., G. I. Petersen, R. B. Hinson, G. L. Allee, and H. H. Stein. 2009. Amino acid digestibility and energy concentration in a novel source of high-protein distillers dried grains and their effects on growth performance of pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 87:4013-4021. Link to full text (.pdf)

Kil, D. Y., F. Ji, R. B. Hinson, A. D. Beaulieu, L. L. Stewart, G. L. Allee, J. F. Patience, J. E. Pettigrew, and H. H. Stein. 2009. Comparison of measured values for NE in diets and ingredients fed to pigs and values predicted from European energy systems. J. Anim. Sci. 87 (E-Suppl. 3):100 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)

Kil, D. Y., F. Ji, R. B. Hinson, A. D. Beaulieu, L. L. Stewart, G. L. Allee, J. F. Patience, J. E. Pettigrew, and H. H. Stein. 2009. Net energy requirements for maintenance in growing and finishing pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 87 (E-Suppl. 3):98 (Abstr.) Link to abstract (.pdf)