Comparison of Amino Acid Digestibility between Commercial Crossbred Pigs and Mini-Jeju Island Native Pigs

TL;DR

This study compares amino acid digestibility in commercial pigs and mini-Jeju native pigs, finding that data from the latter can predict digestibility in commercial pigs.

Contribution

Develops prediction equations to estimate amino acid digestibility in commercial pigs using data from mini-Jeju Island native pigs.

Findings

No interaction between breed and feed ingredient for digestibility of crude protein and indispensable amino acids.

Prediction equations for standardized ileal digestibility of CP, Lys, and Met showed strong correlations (r2 > 0.96).

Digestibility data from mini-Jeju pigs can reliably estimate amino acid digestibility in commercial pigs.

Abstract

There is a disadvantage in determining the amino acid digestibility of swine feed ingredients using commercial cannulated pigs due to their relatively fast growth rate. Using mini-pig breeds to determine the amino acid digestibility can complement this disadvantage of commercial pigs. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the ileal digestibility of crude protein and amino acids between commercial crossbred pigs and Jeju Island native pigs. The digestibility of most amino acids was comparable between the two breeds regardless of the test ingredient. These findings indicate that amino acid digestibility data from Jeju Island native pigs can be used to estimate the amino acid digestibility in feedstuffs for commercial crossbred pigs.

The objectives of this study were to determine the apparent ileal digestibility and standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of crude protein (CP) and amino acids (AA) in feed ingredients, compare the ileal digestibility of CP and AA between commercial crossbred pigs and mini-Jeju Island native pigs (JINP), and develop models for estimating SID of CP and AA for commercial pigs using mini-JINP data. The study involved five crossbred commercial pigs (31.5 ± 1.6 kg of body weight and 11 weeks of age; Landrace × Yorkshire) and five mini-JINP (31.0 ± 3.2 kg body weight and 20 weeks of age). The pigs were surgically equipped with a T-cannula at the end of ileum. Each pig breed was assigned to 5 dietary treatments in a 5 × 10 incomplete Latin square design with 10 periods. Four experimental diets were formulated to contain each of soybean meal, corn gluten feed, copra meal, and sesame expellers as the sole source of nitrogen. A nitrogen-free diet was also prepared to determine basal endogenous losses of CP and AA. No interaction between breed and feed ingredient was observed for the digestibility of CP and all indispensable AA. The SID of CP and all indispensable AA, except Arg, His, and Lys, did not differ between the two breeds of pigs. Prediction equations were developed for SID of CP and AA of commercial pigs using the SID values of mini-JINP: SID of CP (%) = (1.02 × SID of CP in mini-JINP) − 5.20 with r2 = 0.97 and p < 0.05; SID of Lys (%) = (1.12 × SID of Lys in mini-JINP) − 9.10 with r2 = 0.98 and p < 0.05; and SID of Met (%) = (1.08 × SID of Met in mini-JINP) − 4.27 with r2 = 0.96 and p < 0.05. The digestibility for most AA in feedstuffs for commercial pigs can be estimated using data from mini-JINP.