Research Reports

Amino acid digestibility in soybean meal produced in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, India, or China

Soybean meal is the premier source of high quality plant protein for pig diets. However, the nutritional value of soybean meal can vary among sources due to genetic differences in soybean varieties or differences in climate, soil type, fertilizer application, or processing conditions. It is important that these variations be documented so that producers can accurately formulate diets. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine if standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of crude protein and amino acids varied among sources of soybean meal from the U.S., Brazil, Argentina, India, or China.

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Effects of zinc oxide and microbial phytase on standardized total tract digestibility of calcium in diets fed to growing pigs

Zinc oxide, when added to weanling pig diets in pharmacological quantities of up to 2,500 mg/kg, can help prevent diarrhea during the post-weaning period. However, adding large quantities of zinc to diets has drawbacks. Zinc can interfere with calcium digestibility because it competes for the same transport pathway in cells lining the small intestine. Zinc may also reduce calcium digestibility by forming complexes with calcium and phytate.

The standardized total tract digestibility (STTD) of calcium in various ingredients has only recently been determined, and possible interactions between zinc and phytase on the STTD of calcium have not yet been reported. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the effects of addition of zinc oxide and microbial phytase on STTD of calcium in diets fed to weanling pigs.

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Effects of feeding level and physiological stage on digestibility of GE and nutrients and concentration of DE and ME in full fat and defatted rice bran fed to gestating sows and growing gilts

Gestating sows have been found to have greater digestibility of energy than growing pigs. One possible explanation is that sows' larger intestinal tracts and more efficient fermentation of fiber allow them to extract more energy from their feed.

Gestating sows are usually restricted in their feed allowance while growing pigs are fed ad libitum. This confounds comparisons between sows and growing pigs because feeding level affects the rate at which feed passes through the intestinal tract and may affect the efficiency of digestion.

Therefore, an experiment was conducted to separate the effects of physiological stage from the effects of the level of feed intake on digestibility of gross energy (GE) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) in full fat rice bran (FFRB) and defatted rice bran (DFRB).

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Effects of microbial phytase on the apparent and standardized total tract digestibility of calcium in milk co-products fed to growing pigs

Milk co-products are used in pig diets to provide lactose and, in some cases, high quality protein. In addition, milk co-products also provide calcium to the diets. However, this calcium can potentially bind to the phytate contained in the plant ingredients in the diets, which would reduce its digestibility.

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Effects of using soy protein concentrate as a protein source in diets fed to weanling pigs

Because of the presence of antinutritional factors, the use of soybean meal in weanling pig diets is limited. Animal protein sources can be used, but their cost is high relative to plant protein sources. Therefore, it is economically advantageous to find high quality plant protein sources that weanling pigs can tolerate.

Soybean meal can be processed in various ways to remove or reduce antinutritional factors. One way is to use an alcohol extraction process to remove water-soluble carbohydrates, followed by heat treatment. This process produces soy protein concentrate. An experiment was conducted to determine effects of feeding a soy protein concentrate product called X-SOY 200 on growth performance and blood parameters in weanling pigs.

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Digestibility of energy and concentrations of DE and ME in soy protein concentrate with different particle sizes fed to weanling pigs

Soy protein concentrate is produced by aqueous ethanol extraction of water-soluble carbohydrates from soybean meal, followed by heat treatment. The ethanol extraction process removes soluble carbohydrates, leaving a product that contains at least 65% crude protein (dry matter basis). Because soy protein concentrate contains reduced levels of oligosaccharides, trypsin inhibitors, and lectins compared with conventional soybean meal, it can be used in diets for weanling pigs.

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Amino acid digestibility in soy protein concentrate with different particle sizes fed to weanling pigs

Soy protein concentrate is produced by aqueous ethanol extraction of water-soluble carbohydrates from soybean meal, followed by heat treatment. The ethanol extraction process removes soluble carbohydrates, leaving a product that contains at least 65% crude protein. Because soy protein concentrate contains reduced levels of oligosaccharides, trypsin inhibitors, and lectins compared with conventional soybean meal, it can be used in diets for weanling pigs.

Reducing the particle size of soybean meal can increase amino acid digestibility due to the increased surface area for enzymes to work on. However, there are no known data on the effect of particle size on amino acid digestibility in soy protein concentrate. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the digestibility of crude protein and amino acids in soy protein concentrate ground to three different particle sizes and to compare these values to values for soybean meal and fish meal when fed to weanling pigs.

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Effects of full fat or defatted rice bran on growth performance of weanling pigs

Rice bran is the brown outer layer of brown rice, which is removed from brown rice to produce white polished rice for human consumption. Rice bran may be full fat, containing 14 to 25% fat, or defatted, which reduces the concentration of fat to less than 5%.

Rice bran has a high concentration of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), primarily arabinoxylan and cellulose. NSPs decrease nutrient digestibility and thus limit the inclusion of rice bran in weanling pig diets. Recent data from our laboratory indicate that adding exogenous xylanase to diets containing full fat rice bran (FFRB) or defatted rice bran (DFRB) increases the concentrations of digestible and metabolizable energy. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effects of increased inclusion levels of FFRB or DFRB to diets without or with exogenous xylanase on growth performance.

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Requirement for digestible calcium by 25 to 50 kg pigs at different dietary concentration of phosphorus by growth performance and bone ash concentration

An excess of calcium in swine diets may increase excretion of phosphorus due to formation of Ca-P complexes. Therefore, when formulating diets for pigs, it is important to consider the ratio of calcium to phosphorus. The proper ratio should ensure that both minerals are maximally utilized in the bodies of the pigs.

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Effect of a 3 strain Bacillus-based direct-fed microbial on growth performance and intestinal concentrations of volatile fatty acids in nursery pigs fed low- or high-fiber diets

Increasing the inclusion of dietary fiber in nursery pig diets may stimulate beneficial gut microbiota and reduce post-weaning diarrhea. However, the digestibility of nutrients and energy is decreased in high fiber diets. Nursery pigs fed diets high in fiber have been shown to have reduced ADFI and G:F.

Bacillus-based direct-fed microbials (DFM) secrete a large amount and a wide variety of fiber degrading enzymes. It is thought that feeding DFM may offset some of the negative effects of  a high fiber diet. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that addition of a Bacillus-based DFM will increase fermentation of dietary fiber and improve growth performance when fed to nursery pigs.

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Effects of microbial phytase on apparent and standardized total tract digestibility of calcium in feed ingredients of animal origin

Most swine diets must be supplemented with calcium because most plant ingredients commonly used in diets for pigs contain relatively little calcium. One way to add calcium is to include inorganic sources such as dicalcium phosphate or calcium carbonate; however, animal ingredients such as meat byproduct meals can also be used. These ingredients, often used as a protein source, are also a good source of calcium. To our knowledge, values for apparent (ATTD) and standardized (STTD) total tract digestibility of calcium in animal sources have not been reported. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the ATTD and STTD of calcium in four calcium sources of animal origin.

The secondary objective of the study was to test the hypothesis that the addition of microbial phytase to diets containing calcium sources of animal origin would increase the digestibility of calcium. Although animal sources do not contain phytate, swine diets are composed primarily of plant ingredients, and the phytate in those ingredients might form complexes with the calcium in the animal sources.

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Digestibility of energy in a novel source of soy protein concentrate and in soybean meal fed to weanling pigs

Soybean meal is the main protein source used in diets for pigs in the United States, as well as most countries of the world, due to the high quality of the protein it provides. However, soybean meal also contains antinutritional factors that limit its use in weanling pig diets. Pigs do not secrete the enzyme needed for the hydrolysis of raffinose and stachyose, α-galactosidase, in the small intestine. Therefore, these oligosaccharides are not enzymatically digested, but are instead fermented in the small and large intestines. This results in decreased growth performance and increased incidence of diarrhea when fed to weanling pigs.

Oligosaccharides can be removed from soybean meal using an alcohol extraction process, creating soy protein concentrate. Soy protein concentrate has greater digestibility of most amino acids and greater concentrations of digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) than soybean meal. A new source of soy protein concentrate called Nutrivance (Midwest Ag Enterprises Inc., Marshall, MN) has recently been introduced, which is produced using a process combining non-alcohol extraction and enzymatic treatment of soybean meal. The nutritional value of soy protein concentrate produced using this method has not been determined. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the concentrations of DE and ME in soy protein concentrate and to compare these values to DE and ME in soybean meal.

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Digestibility of phosphorus in a novel source of soy protein concentrate and in soybean meal fed to weanling pigs

Soy protein concentrate is produced by extracting some of the non-protein components of soybean meal, including soluble carbohydrates, from soybean meal. These soluble carbohydrates include oligosaccharides, which reduce the tolerance of young pigs to conventional soybean meal. With the oligosaccharides removed, soy protein concentrate can be used as a source of protein in diets for weanling pigs.

Most soy protein concentrate is produced using an alcohol extraction process. However, a new source of soy protein concentrate called Nutrivance (Midwest Ag Enterprises Inc., Marshall, MN) has recently been introduced, which uses a process combining non-alcohol extraction and enzymatic treatment of soybean meal. An experiment was conducted to determine the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) and standardized total tract digestibility (STTD) of phosphorus in this new ingredient.

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Digestibility of amino acids in a novel source of soy protein concentrate and in soybean meal fed to weanling pigs

Soybean meal is a high quality source of protein in diets fed to pigs. However, soybean meal contains anti-nutritional factors such as trypsin inhibitors and oligosaccharides, which decrease nutrient availability and limit the amount of soybean meal that can be fed in weanling pig diets.

Soy protein concentrate is produced by processing soybean meal to remove some nonprotein components, including the soluble carbohydrates. This leaves soy protein concentrate with a greater concentration of crude protein and amino acids than soybean meal. The presence of oligosaccharides in soybean meal has been shown to reduce the tolerance of young pigs to conventional soybean meal, and therefore, animal proteins rather than soybean meal is often used in diets for young pigs. However, if the oligosaccharides and other antinutritional factors can be removed from soybean meal, it is possible to use soybean meal in diets for young pigs instead of animal proteins.

Typically, an alcohol extraction process has been used to remove soluble carbohydrates from soybean meal to create soy protein concentrate. However, a new source of soy protein concentrate called Nutrivance (Midwest Ag Enterprises Inc., Marshall, MN) has recently been introduced. Nutrivance is produced using a process combining non-alcohol extraction and enzymatic treatment of soybean meal. The nutritional value of soy protein concentrate produced using this method has not been determined. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the digestibility of amino acids in this new source of soy protein concentrate.

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Calcium balance at different levels of digestible calcium and digestible phosphorus in weanling pigs

Recent studies conducted in our laboratory have determined values for standardized total tract digestibility (STTD) of calcium in feed ingredients fed to pigs. However, there is a lack of information about the requirement for STTD calcium in diets for pigs. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to measure calcium balance at different levels of STTD calcium in diets fed to 11 to 25 kg pigs.

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Effect of particle size of calcium carbonate on growth performance in growing pigs

In poultry, the particle size of inorganic calcium sources has been shown to affect calcium retention and eggshell quality. However, little is known about the effect of particle size of inorganic calcium fed to pigs. Results of a previous experiment conducted in the Stein Monogastric Nutrition Lab indicated that calcium digestibility and retention were not affected by the particle size of supplemental calcium carbonate. A follow-up study was conducted to test the hypothesis that calcium carbonate particle does not affect growth performance by weanling pigs.

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Growth performance and bone mineralization in weanling pigs fed diets containing different levels of digestible calcium and digestible phosphorus

It is important to include calcium and phosphorus in the diets in the proper proportions because the excess or deficiency of one mineral may affect the utilization of the other. Calcium requirements in the 2012 NRC are based on a model, which used a 2.15 ratio of total calcium to standardized total tract digestible (STTD) phosphorus. An optimal ratio of STTD calcium to STTD phosphorus has not been reported because not enough data exist on the standardized total tract digestibility of calcium. However, recent studies conducted by the Stein Monogastric Nutrition Lab have determined values for STTD calcium for several calcium sources. With these data, it is possible to determine the requirement for STTD calcium. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the requirement of STTD calcium to maximize growth performance and bone ash in 11 to 25 kg pigs.

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Determination of amino acid digestibility in soybean meal from different regions of the United States and fed to pigs

Soybeans grown in the northern United States are exposed to fewer growing days and hours of sunlight than soybeans grown elsewhere in the U.S. As a result, soybeans grown in the northern U.S. fix less nitrogen, and have a lower concentration of crude protein, than other U.S. soybeans. However, the concentrations of particular amino acids, particularly indispensable amino acids, are more important for the purposes of diet formulation than the concentration of crude protein. The concentration of amino acids in soybeans grown in different parts of the U.S. has not been determined.

The amount of amino acids in soybean meal that are available to the pig also depends on digestibility, but no research has been conducted to compare the digestibility of amino acids among soybean meal produced in different regions of the U.S. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to compare the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of amino acids and the concentration of SID amino acids in soybean meal produced in different regions within the United States and fed to growing pigs.

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Effects of production area and microbial phytase on the apparent and standardized total tract digestibility of phosphorus by growing pigs

The area in which soybeans are grown is known to affect various aspects of the chemical composition of soybean meal produced from those soybeans. However, it is not known if there is a difference in the concentration of phytate, and therefore in phosphorus digestibility, among soybeans from different growing areas. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to determine the concentration of phytate and the apparent (ATTD) and standardized (STTD) total tract digestibility of phosphorus in soybean meal produced from soybeans grown in four different areas in the United States. A secondary objective was to determine the effect of microbial phytase on STTD of P in soybean meal from each of the four areas.

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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.

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