Concentrations of nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy and amino acid digestibility in soybean meal from Argentina, Brazil, China, Thailand and the United States fed to broilers

The nutritional value of soybean meal from different sources may vary due to differences in processing techniques and environmental conditions such as growing areas, soil type, and variety of soybeans. The Philippines import soybean for livestock feed from many different countries. However, the nutritional quality of soybean meal from these different origins has not been compared. It is important for producers formulating diets in the Philippines to know whether the same values can be used in formulations for all sources of imported soybean meal. Therefore, two experiments were conducted to determine the concentrations of apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn), and the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of amino acids by broilers fed soybean meal from Argentina, Brazil, China, Thailand, and the United States.

Materials and methods

A total of eight sources of soybean meal were procured: two from Argentina (ARG1 and ARG2), one from Brazil, one from China, one from Thailand, and three from the United States (US1, US2, and US3). All soybean meal samples were collected from feed mills in the Philippines and were expected to be representative of the sources of soybean meal imported to the Philippines. The soybean meal sources were analyzed for energy and nutrient composition (Table 1).

In the first experiment, a total of 72 day-old male broiler chicks were fed one of nine diets. The basal diet was based on corn and a source of soybean meal that was different from the sources being tested. Eight additional diets were formulated based on a mixture of 70% of the basal diet and each source of soybean meal. The AMEn of the corn-based basal diet was determined using the following formula:

AMEn of diet = AME of diet - (N gain × 8.22/dry matter intake), where N gain = body weight gain × 0.20)/6.235

The difference procedure was then used to calculate he AMEn of each tested soybean meal source.

AMEn of soybean meal = AMEn of basal diet - [(AMEn of basal diet - AMEn of experimental diet)/0.30]

The second experiment used a total of 48 cecectomized Single Comb White Leghorn roosters to determine amino acid digestibility in the eight sources of soybean meal. Each rooster was tube fed 30 grams of soybean meal, and excreta were collected 48 hours later.

Nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy

AMEn values were not different among the soybean meal samples from Brazil, China, Thailand, US1, US2, and US3 (Table 2). Soybean meal from China had a greater (P < 0.05) concentration of AMEn than soybean meal from ARG1 or ARG2. ARG2 also had less (P < 0.05) AMEn than soybean meal from Thailand, US1, or US2.

Standardized ileal digestibility of amino acids

The mean SID of indispensable amino acids did not differ among the samples (Table 3). Soybean meal from US3 had greater (P < 0.05) SID of arginine compared with samples from Thailand, China, and Brazil, greater (P < 0.05) SID of histidine compared with samples from US2, Thailand, and China, and greater (P < 0.05) SID of lysine compared with soybean meal from Brazil. Soybean meal from Brazil had greater (P < 0.05) SID of threonine compared with samples from ARG2, China, Thailand, and all three US sources, as well as greater (P < 0.05) SID of phenylalanine than soybean meal from US1. Soybean meal from US1 had greater (P < 0.05) SID of tryptophan than soybean meal from Brazil. No other differences were observed in SID of indispensable amino acids.

Minor differences were also observed among sources of soybean meal in the SID of dispensable amino acids. The SID of total amino acids was greater for US3 soybean meal compared with samples from China, Thailand, or US2.

Key points

The AMEn of soybean meal from China was greater than that of soybean meal from Argentina, but not different from the AMEn of soybean meal from Brazil, Thailand, and the United States.
With a few exceptions, SID of indispensable amino acids was the same among the different sources of soybean meal. The SID of total amino acids was greater in US3 soybean meal than in soybean meal from China, Thailand, or US2.
The variation among sources of soybean meal obtained within the same country may be as great as the variation among countries.

Table 1. Analyzed nutrient composition of eight sources of soybean meal

	Country
Item	ARG1	ARG2	Brazil	China	Thailand	US1	US2	US3	Average
GE, kcal/kg	4,156	4,154	4,154	4,123	4,125	4,190	4,206	4,094	4,150
DM	89.38	89.55	89.07	87.96	89.01	90.00	90.62	88.58	89.27
CP	45.28	45.35	47.73	48.67	47.66	46.66	47.20	47.18	46.97
AEE¹	1.35	0.53	1.01	0.93	0.29	1.07	1.47	0.67	0.79
ADF	6.84	6.55	10.03	7.69	8.09	7.68	6.29	6.19	7.42
NDF	7.66	9.61	11.01	8.85	10.15	9.05	9.77	8.78	9.36
Lignin	1.03	0.35	1.70	0.76	0.84	0.97	0.47	0.93	0.98
Ash	6.93	6.83	6.68	5.74	5.77	5.85	5.93	7.00	6.34
Carbohydrates
Starch	1.80	1.80	ND²	ND	1.80	1.50	1.40	1.80	1.68
Glucose	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	-
Maltose	0.19	0.25	0.37	0.37	0.22	0.28	0.24	0.14	0.28
Fructose	0.10	0.09	0.08	0.07	0.07	0.08	0.08	0.07	0.08
Sucrose	7.29	7.21	5.65	5.16	6.61	7.84	7.94	6.32	7.66
Stachyose	5.14	5.00	3.96	4.22	5.41	5.52	5.54	5.52	5.04
Raffinose	1.42	1.39	1.61	1.53	1.11	1.26	1.29	1.36	1.37

¹AEE = acid hydrolyzed ether extract
²ND = Not detected.

Table 2. Intake and output of energy, and concentrations of AME and AMEn in experimental diets and soybean meals (as-fed basis)

	Country
Item	ARG1	ARG2	Brazil	China	Thailand	US1	US2	US3	Average	SEM	P-value
GE intake, kcal	1,369^ab	1,395^ab	1,352^ab	1,277^b	1,448^a	1,258^b	1,431^a	1,309^ab	1,355	35.90	0.04
GE excreta, kcal	418^ab	450^a	398^ab	363^b	449^a	379^b	445^a	397^ab	412	16.30	0.05
AMEn of diet, kcal/kg	2,662^bc	2,620^c	2,746^abc	2,831^a	2,768^ab	2,775^ab	2,775^ab	2,725^abc	2,738	33.96	0.03
AMEn of SBM, kcal/kg	2,712^bc	2,699^c	2,737^abc	2,762^a	2,744^ab	2,746^ab	2,746^ab	2,731^abc	2,734	10.19	0.03

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

Table 3. Standardized ileal digestibility of soybean meals from Argentina, Brazil, China, Thailand, and the United States fed to cecectomized roosters

	Country
Item	ARG1	ARG2	Brazil	China	Thailand	US1	US2	US3	Average	SEM	P-value
Indispensable AA
Arg	91.7^abc	92.6^ab	88.3^c	89.1^c	89.5^bc	92.8^ab	92.6^ab	93.4^a	91.2	0.83	0.04
His	88.6^ab	88.2^ab	88.3^ab	87.4^b	88.0^b	88.2^ab	87.7^b	90.3^a	88.4	0.57	0.05
Ile	92.1	92.1	92.8	92.0	91.3	91.3	91.9	93.1	92.1	0.45	0.06
Leu	92.1	91.9	92.7	91.8	91.0	91.0	91.1	92.6	91.8	0.48	0.08
Lys	88.0^ab	88.3^ab	87.1^b	87.6^ab	88.6^ab	87.6^ab	87.4^ab	90.6^a	88.2	0.80	0.04
Met	92.0	92.0	92.7	91.9	91.6	91.1	91.1	92.5	91.9	0.50	0.11
Phe	92.7^ab	92.6^ab	93.4^a	92.6^ab	91.8^ab	91.6^b	91.7^ab	93.3^ab	92.5	0.44	0.05
Thr	88.2^ab	86.7^b	89.3^a	86.7^b	86.5^b	86.5^b	85.9^b	88.3^b	87.3	0.61	0.04
Trp	96.5^ab	96.7^ab	97.0^ab	96.3^b	96.6^ab	97.2^a	96.8^ab	96.5^ab	96.7	0.20	0.03
Val	91.4	91.1	91.9	90.9	90.3	90.6	90.8	92.2	91.2	0.51	0.07
Mean	91.3	91.2	91.4	90.6	90.5	90.8	90.7	97.27	91.1	0.44	0.06
Dispensable AA, %
Ala	88.4	88.4	89.3	88.3	87.8	87.0	87.3	89.2	88.2	88.19	0.06
Asp	90.3^abc	89.4^bc	91.1^ab	89.6^bc	89.5^bc	89.2^c	88.5^a	91.7^c	89.9	89.90	0.05
Cys	79.9^ab	78.0^b	83.2^ab	78.7^ab	79.4^ab	78.3^ab	79.2^ab	83.6^a	80.0	1.33	0.04
Glu	93.7^ab	93.1^ab	94.3^a	93.1^ab	92.8^ab	92.3^b	92.2^b	94.1^a	93.2	0.38	0.01
Gly	88.3^bc	88.6^bc	87.6^bc	85.8^c	85.3^c	91.2^ab	87.6^bc	95.1^a	88.7	1.14	0.02
Pro	92.3	91.6	92.7	91.4	91.1	91.1	90.5	92.8	91.7	0.62	0.07
Ser	91.2^ab	90.4^ab	91.7^a	90.0^ab	89.5^ab	88.9^b	89.6^ab	91.1^ab	90.3	0.62	0.03
Tyr	92.6	92.0	92.9	90.0	91.5	91.5	92.0	93.0	92.2	0.42	0.08
Mean	85.6^ab	88.9^ab	90.3^ab	88.6^b	88.3^b	88.7^b	88.4^b	91.3^a	89.2	0.63	0.02
Total AA	90.6^ab	90.2^ab	90.9^ab	89.7^b	89.55^b	89.9^ab	89.7^b	91.9^a	90.3	0.51	0.04

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

This report is based on research by Kelly Sotak-Peper and Hans H. Stein, published in Sotak-Peper's Ph. D. dissertation.

Keywords:

Amino acid digestibility, Soybean meal, Apparent metabolizable energy, Nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy

Authors:

Stein, Sotak-Peper

Publication Type:

Research Reports

Hans H. Stein

Main menu

Concentrations of nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy and amino acid digestibility in soybean meal from Argentina, Brazil, China, Thailand and the United States fed to broilers

Materials and methods

Nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy

Standardized ileal digestibility of amino acids

Key points