UTILIZATION OF AN ENZYME COMPLEX IN DIETS CONTAINING COTTONSEED CAKE FOR GROWING PIGS

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted with pigs in the growth phase (30–50 kg). Experiment I consisted of a digestibility trial to determine the nutritional value of cottonseed cake with and without addition of an enzyme complex through the method of total collection of excreta. Twenty barrows were used and housed in metabolic cages to collect the total collection of feces and urine. Four treatments and five replications randomized the experimental design completely. Two reference diets and two test diets were experimental (70% reference diet and 30% cottonseed cake), with and without the addition of an enzyme complex. The evaluated variables were: apparent digestibility coefficient of dry matter, of crude protein, of Gross energy, of phosphorus and the values of digestible dry matter, digestible protein, digestible phosphorus, digestible energy and metabolizable energy of cottonseed cake with and without enzymes. The addition of enzymes increased the levels of digestible protein to 0.302–0.313 kg/kg and digestible energy to 2,538–2,894 kcal/kg. Experiment II was conducted to assess barrow performance when they were fed diets containing increasing levels of cottonseed cake protein (0, 20, 40 and 60%), which replaced protein from soybean meal, with the enzyme complex. The design was a randomized block design consisting of four treatments and five replications. The performance, carcass characteristics and biochemical parameters of the blood were evaluated. These results indicate that the protein from soybean meal can be replaced up to 60% by the cottonseed cake protein with enzyme complex in diets for pigs in the growth phase, without sacrificing performance or carcass characteristics Keywords: additives, digestibility, food protein, performance, swine