pistachio blanks

Digestibility of energy and concentrations of digestible and metabolizable energy in diets containing pistachio blanks fed to growing pigs

Kim, Yeonwoo , Su A Lee, Hans H. Stein. 2025. Digestibility of energy and concentrations of digestible and metabolizable energy in diets containing pistachio blanks fed to growing pigs. Journal of Animal Science, Volume 103, Issue Supplement_1, May 2025, Pages 93–94, doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf102.100 Link to abstract.

Keywords: 
Energy, pistachio blanks, wheat middlings
Authors: 
Kim, Lee, Stein
Publication Type: 
Abstracts

Standardized ileal digestibility of amino acids in pistachio blanks and soybean meal fed to growing pigs

Pistachio blanks are coproducts of pistachio processing and are discarded due to their hollow shells or immature nuts, which make them unusable as human food. Pistachio blanks float in water and the annual production is estimated to be between 50,000 and 70,000 metric tons. A similar coproduct, pistachio shell powder, was recently demonstrated to provide significant amounts of energy in diets for sows. However, there is no information about the digestibility of amino acids (AA) in pistachio blanks when fed to pigs. Although AA concentration in pistachio blanks is low, there is a need for determining standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of AA in pistachio blanks. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that the SID of AA in pistachio blanks are comparable to those in soybean meal (SBM) when fed to growing pigs.

Keywords: 
Standardized ileal digestibility, Amino acids, pistachio blanks, Soybean meal, Pigs
Authors: 
Kim, Lee, Stein
Publication Type: 
Research Reports

Digestibility of energy by growing pigs and concentrations of digestible and metabolizable energy in diets containing pistachio blanks

As the production of pistachios grows globally, more co-products are produced every year. Pistachio blanks are pistachio fruits that float in water because the shells are hollow and therefore cannot be used for human food. Pistachio blanks is a high fiber ingredient, which is comparable to wheat middlings. The annual production is 50,000 to 70,000 tons, but is growing. Pistachio blanks have been viewed as a waste product from the pistachio processing sector, but it is possible this feed ingredient can provide nutrients for animals and be used in animal diets. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that the apparent total tract digestibility of energy, dry matter, ash, and total dietary fiber in pistachio blank powder is not different from that of wheat middlings if included in diets for growing pigs.

Keywords: 
Energy, pistachio blanks, Wheat middlings
Authors: 
Kim, Lee, Stein
Publication Type: 
Research Reports