Nutritive value of an extruded blend of canola seed and pea (Enermax™) for poultry

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate the nutritive value of Enermax™, which is a blend (50:50 wt/wt) of extruded full- fat canola seed and pea. Four blended samples from each of four batches were collected prior to extrusion (raw) and four samples from the same batches were collected after extrusion to give eight test samples. The canola seed in two of four batches were of good quality and in the other two were 8% bin-heated. The precision-fed adult rooster assay was used to determine the true metabolisable energy (TMEn) and true amino acid digestibility (TAAD) contents of variously treated feed samples. Both intact and cecectomized roosters were used in the assays. The average TMEn (kcal kg-1 DM) of the extruded product was 4051 ± 93 (mean ± SD; n = 16) for intact birds and 4019 ± 110 (n = 16) for cecectomized birds whereas the TMEn of the raw product was 3754 ± 136 (n = 16 ) in cecectomized birds. The true digestibilities of all amino acids were similar for extruded and raw product of canola seed-pea blend containing either good quality or 8% bin-heated canola seed (P > 0.10). These data indicate a high available energy content of the extruded product with little difference in TMEn content when measured using either intact or cecectomized roosters. It was concluded that extrusion improved the bio-available energy content of the canola seed-pea product, but not true amino acid digestibility. Further, the current results indicate that substitution of bin-heated (8%) canola seed for good quality canola seed did not adversely affect TMEn or TAAD of the extruded product. Key words: Poultry, nutritive value, extruded canola seed-pea blend