Evaluation of Energy Digestibility and Prediction of Digestible and Metabolisable Energy in Sunflower Seed Meal Fed to Growing Pigs

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to determine the chemical composition, digestible energy (DE), metabolisable energy (ME) and the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) in sunflower seed meal (SFSM) and to develop reasonable prediction equations for estimating energy digestibility based on chemical composition of these meals for growing pigs. Ten SFSMs were collected and 66 crossbred barrows (initial body weight=36.43±5.25 kg) were randomly allocated to one of eleven diets. The basal diet was based on corn and soybean meal which contained 82.2% corn, 14.8% de-hulled soybean meal and 3% premix. The test diets contained 30% SFSM at the expense of corn and soybean meals. The experiment comprised a 7-d adaptation period followed by a 5-d collection period of faecal matter and urine. On a dry matter (DM) basis, the content of crude protein, neutral and acid detergent fibre, and gross energy (GE) ranged from 29.33 to 39.09%, 38.15 to 55.40%, 24.59 to 37.34% and 18.65 to 21.50 MJ/kg, respectively. The concentration of DE and ME ranged from 10.51 to 12.47 MJ/kg and 10.26 to 12.16 MJ/kg of DM, respectively. The DE values and ATTD of GE among the ten SFSMs significantly differed (P<0.05). The ATTD of GE ranged from 52.86 to 63.90%. The best models for predicting DE and ME were also established. In conclusion, the chemical composition of SFSM was variable (coeffiecient of variance>10%) among the ten SFSMs (DM). The results of DE, ME and prediction equations could be applied to evaluate the energy digestibility of SFSM in growing pigs.

Key Words:

• Sunflower seed meal
• Chemical composition
• Energy value
• Growing pigs
• Prediction equations

Acknowledgments

this research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31372316), Special Public Sector Fund in Agriculture (200903006) and National Key Technology Support Program (2012BAD51G01).