PSVI-12 Nutritional Value of Corn Sourced from U.S. and Ukraine on Growth Performance, Energy Digestibility, and Amino Acid Digestibility in Pigs

Abstract

Abstract This study was conducted to investigate the nutritional value of corn sourced from the US and Ukraine (UKR) in the swine diet. A total of 64 nursery pigs [initial body weight (BW) = 8.24 ± 0.73 kg] were used in the feeding trial for 28 days and fed one of two diets with sole corn source from US and Ukraine (2 treatments, 8 replicates, 4 pigs/pen) in a randomized complete block design. Pig BW and feed consumption were measured weekly basis to calculate the average daily gain and gain to feed ratio. Seven ileal-cannulated pigs (average BW = 20.3 ± 2.4 kg) were housed in metabolic crates for 3 periods, and the pigs were fed one of three experimental diets (3 treatments, 7 replicates, 1 pig/crate) such as corn starch-based with corn as a sole protein source to determine the ileal digestibility of amino acids by an indicator method. Each period had 5 days of adaptation, followed by 2 days of ileal digesta collection. Eight ileal-cannulated pigs (average BW = 20.0 ± 3.7 kg) were housed in metabolic crates, and the pigs were fed one of two diets with corn as a sole energy source. The pigs had 5 days of adaption, followed by 4 days of fecal and urine collection by using a total collection method for two periods (2 treatments, 8 replicates, 1 pig/crate). Pigs were fed the diets at three times of maintenance energy requirement according to NRC (2012) in two equal meals daily. In the feeding trial, dietary US or UKR corn did not affect the BW, average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and gain to feed ratio in nursery pigs. The standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of Arg for UKR corn was greater (P < 0.05) than US corn, and the SID of His, Phe, Val, Ala, Asp, Cys, and Glu for UKR corn tended to be greater (P < 0.10) than those for US corn. The analyzed gross energy values for US and UKR corns were 3,843 kcal/kg and 3,937 kcal/kg, respectively. The metabolizable energy for UKR corn was greater (P < 0.05) than US corn (3,406 vs. 3,229 kcal/kg). The net energy value for UKR tended to be greater (P < 0.10) than US corn (2,777 vs. 2714 kcal/kg). In conclusion, supplementation of US corn in the nursery diet had no difference in the growth performance of the pigs compared with the UKR corn, whereas the SID value of arginine and metabolizable energy value for US corn were less than those for UKR corn.