Amino acid digestibility in plant based protein concentrates and in Peruvian super prime fish meal fed to weanling pigs

Anti-nutritional factors in soybean meal can result in a reduction in digestibility of amino acids. Therefore, the use of soybean meal is limited in diets for weanling pigs and fish meal and other animal protein sources are often used instead. However, technologically treated plant proteins or mixtures of proteins may also be used instead of animal proteins if the treatments employed have reduced or eliminated the anti-nutritional factors. An example of 2 new plant-based proteins are protein concentrate 56 (JPC 56) and Fish Meal Replacer Omega 3 (FMR Ω 3). Both proteins are produced by Joosten, (Ab Weert, The Netherlands), but there is no information about the digestibility of amino acids in these proteins. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that the apparent ileal digestibility (AID) and the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of amino acids in JPC 56 and FMR Ω 3 are not different from AID and SID values in fish meal.

Experimental procedures

Three protein sources were used. JPC 56 and FMR Ω3 were sourced from Joosten and a source of Peruvian fish meal was also used (Table 1).

Eight weanling barrows (initial BW: 11.8 ± 0.5 kg) were equipped with a T-cannula in the distal ileum and then allotted to a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square design with 4 diets and four 7-day periods for a total of 8 replicate pigs per diet. Pigs were housed in individual pens in an environmentally controlled room. Pens were equipped with a feeder, a drinking nipple, and smooth, plastic-coated sides.

Four diets were formulated. Three diets contained one of the protein sources (JPC 56, FMR 3, or fish meal) as the sole source of amino acids and the last diet was an nitrogen-free diet that was used to measure the basal endogenous losses of amino acids. The initial 5 days of each period were considered an adaptation period to the diets and ileal digesta were collected on days 6 and 7 for 9 hours per day.

Results

The AID and SID of crude protein and amino acids were reduced (P < 0.05) in FM compared with JPC 56 and FMR 3 (Tables 2 and 3) with the exception that the AID of Ala was not different among ingredients and the SID of Ala in FMR 3 was not different from that in fish meal.

Key points

  • The SID of crude protein and all indispensable amino acids are greater in JPC 56 and FMR 3 than in fish meal.
  • JPC 56 and FMR 3 are well digested by weanling pigs and may be used in starter diets for pigs at the expense of fish meal.

Table 1. Analyzed chemical composition of Joosten protein concentrate (JPC 56), fish meal replacer omega 3 (FMR Ω3), and conventional fish meal (FM), as-fed basis.

Item, %

JPC 56

FMR Ω3

FM

Dry matter

94.39

94.41

90.50

Crude protein

55.43

58.12

66.24

Indispensable AA

   Arg

3.43

3.17

3.87

   His

1.33

1.35

1.81

   Ile

2.55

2.57

3.04

   Leu

4.13

4.26

4.93

   Lys

4.33

4.08

5.44

   Met

0.97

1.40

1.83

   Phe

2.91

3.07

2.80

   Thr

1.97

1.90

2.81

   Trp

0.72

0.73

0.78

   Val

2.56

2.60

3.43

Dispensable AA

   Ala

2.13

2.05

4.22

   Asp

5.13

4.39

6.03

   Cys

0.88

0.98

0.62

   Glu

12.32

15.79

8.46

   Gly

2.22

2.19

4.12

   Ser

2.37

2.73

2.33

   Tyr

1.98

2.01

2.19

   Total AA

51.93

55.27

58.71

Lys:CP ratio1

7.81

7.01

8.21

1Lys:CP ratio: calculated by expressing the concentration of Lys in each ingredient as a percentage of the concentration of CP.

Table 2. Apparent ileal digestibility of CP and AA in Joosten protein concentrate (JPC 56), fish meal replacer omega 3 (FMR Ω3), and conventional fish meal (FM), as-fed basis.

Item, %

JPC 56

FMR Ω3

FM

SEM

P-value

   CP

87.83a

87.73a

73.42b

1.39

<0.001

Indispensable AA          
   Arg

93.71a

92.69a

87.33b

0.97

<0.001

   His

92.03a

90.98a

81.63b

1.10

<0.001

   Ile

91.24a

90.20a

82.36b

1.29

<0.001

   Leu

91.10a

90.13a

82.99b

1.36

0.001

   Lys

95.02a

90.05b

86.43b

1.16

<0.001

   Met

97.05a

94.52a

86.35b

0.91

<0.001

   Phe

91.72a

91.31a

80.21b

1.15

<0.001

   Thr

83.92a

81.56ab

75.03b

2.18

0.029

   Trp

91.27a

89.64a

82.62b

1.45

0.001

   Val

89.00a

87.24a

79.82b

1.71

0.003

Mean

92.02a

89.86a

82.81b

1.27

<0.001

Dispensable AA          
   Ala

87.28

84.47

83.15

1.94

0.336

   Asp

87.65a

85.17a

66.95b

1.77

<0.001

   Cys

84.44a

83.38a

50.28b

2.68

<0.001

   Glu

94.91a

95.31a

82.07b

0.80

<0.001

   Gly

81.42ab

82.61a

74.13b

2.15

0.019

   Ser

89.54a

88.99a

74.26b

1.44

<0.001

   Tyr

91.11a

90.05a

80.71b

1.35

<0.001

Mean

89.60a

90.84a

76.33b

1.17

<0.001

Total AA

90.71a

90.44a

79.54b

1.18

<0.001

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

Table 3. Standardized ileal digestibility of crude protein (CP) and amino acids (AA) in Joosten protein concentrate (JPC 56), Fish meal replacer omega 3 (FMR Ω3), and conventional fish meal (FM), as-fed basis 1

Item, %

JPC 56

FMR Ω3

FM

SEM

P – value

   Crude protein

98.95a

96.34a

81.76b

1.39

<0.001

Indispensable AA          
   Arg

99.92a

98.16a

92.47b

0.97

<0.001

   His

97.58a

95.36a

85.27b

1.1

<0.001

   Ile

95.99a

94.01a

85.94b

1.29

<0.001

   Leu

95.95a

93.91a

86.71b

1.36

<0.001

   Lys

97.69a

93.53a

88.84b

1.16

<0.001

   Met

98.91a

96.66a

87.95b

0.91

<0.001

   Phe

96.29a

94.76a

84.53b

1.15

<0.001

   Thr

96.05a

91.54a

82.80b

2.18

0.001

   Trp

96.82a

93.98a

86.91b

1.45

<0.001

   Val

95.71a

92.64a

84.40b

1.71

<0.001

Mean

97.14a

94.41a

86.86b

1.27

<0.001

Dispensable AA          
   Ala

96.66a

92.44ab

87.51b

1.94

0.015

   Asp

93.33a

90.45a

71.34b

1.77

<0.001

   Cys

95.53a

90.98a

64.85b

2.68

<0.001

   Glu

97.56a

97.02a

85.61b

0.80

<0.001

   Gly

110.25a

105.00a

87.66b

2.15

<0.001

   Ser

97.58a

95.20a

82.19b

1.44

<0.001

   Tyr

96.56a

94.26a

85.20b

1.35

<0.001

Mean

100.95a

99.04a

86.57b

1.17

<0.001

Total AA

99.20a

97.14a

86.77b

1.18

<0.001

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

                1Values for SID were calculated by correcting values for apparent ileal digestibility for the basal ileal endogenous losses. Basal ileal endogenous losses were determined as (g/kg DMI): CP, 15.89; Arg, 0.54; His, 0.19; Ile, 0.31; Leu, 0.53; Lys, 0.38; Met, 0.08; Phe, 0.35; Thr, 0.63; Trp, 0.10; Val, 0.45; Ala, 0.54; Asp, 0.77; Cys, 0.25; Glu, 0.87; Gly, 1.65; Ser, 0.53; and Tyr, 0.25