Energy Values and Standardized Ileal Digestibility of Amino Acids in Fermented Soybean Meal Fed to Growing Pigs.

Simple Summary: Fermentation not only reduces the anti-nutritional factors in soybean meal, but also increases the contents of bioactive peptides and free amino acids, and promotes the digestibility of nutrients in soybean meal for growing pigs. The enzymes and prebiotics contained in fermented soybean meal (FSBM) improve the intestinal health, antioxidant capacity, and immune function of animals. However, there is a lack of systematic evaluation of the nutritional value of FSBM for growing pigs. Therefore, we selected 10 representative FSBM samples from nine different manufacturers in China, and determined the digestible energy (DE), metabolizable energy (ME), and standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of amino acids (AA) of FSBM. We found that the mean values of DE, ME, and SID of AA in the FSBM samples were similar to those of NRC (2012), but the variation was large. The DE and ME values can be predicted based on the chemical composition of FSBM in growing pigs. This study aimed to evaluate the digestible energy (DE), metabolizable energy (ME), and standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of amino acids (AA) in fermented soybean meal (FSBM) fed to growing pigs. In experiment 1, twenty-two growing pigs (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire; 32.0 ± 4.2 kg BW) were fed one of 11 diets in a replicated 11 × 3 incomplete Latin square design to determine the DE and ME of FSBM. The diets included a corn-based diet and 10 experimental diets formulated by replacing the corn with 29.10% FSBM. In experiment 2, eleven growing pigs (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire; 24.3 ± 2.3 kg BW) were surgically equipped with a T-cannula and arranged in an 11 × 6 incomplete Latin square design with 11 diets and six periods. The diets included an N-free diet and 10 experimental diets containing 40% FSBM as the sole source of AA. The results showed that the contents of dry matter (DM), gross energy, crude protein, crude fiber, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, calcium, and phosphorus averaged 91.83% (ranging from 89.24 to 94.55%), 18.44 MJ/kg (ranging from 18.00 to 18.95 MJ/kg), 50.63% (ranging from 50.00 to 51.81%), 4.51% (ranging from 3.41 to 5.40%), 9.17% (ranging from 7.02 to 10.30%), 6.38% (ranging from 4.97 to 7.45%), 0.32% (ranging from 0.29 to 0.34%), and 0.67% (ranging from 0.61 to 0.84%), respectively. The average DE and ME were 17.55 and 16.33 MJ/kg DM, respectively, with ranges of 15.72 to 18.80 MJ/kg DM and 14.30 to 17.72 MJ/kg DM, respectively. Significant differences were observed in the SID of essential AA (p < 0.05), except for Thr and Arg. The SID of Lys, Met, Trp, and Thr ranged from 68.13 to 83.27% (mean = 76.62%), 62.23 to 89.30% (mean = 75.25%), 72.30 to 90.29% (mean = 80.96%), and 74.17 to 84.41% (mean = 77.90%), respectively. These results indicate significant variability in chemical composition, energy content, and the SID of AA among the selected FSBM samples. The chemical composition of FSBM can be used to predict DE and ME values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]