Effect of potato on kibble characteristics and diet digestibility and palatability to adult dogs and puppies

Abstract

The objective was to evaluate kibble characteristics, coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) of nutrients, metabolisable energy (ME), palatability, and faecal characteristics of diets containing potato starch (PS) fed to adult dogs and puppies. Four diets containing 0, 100, 200, or 300 g/kg PS, at the expense of corn, were evaluated in three experiments. Experiment 1 evaluated the physical characteristics of the diets. Experiment 2 evaluated diet digestibility and faecal characteristics in eight adult dogs (7 years old) and eight puppies (6 months old) according to a double 4 × 4 Latin square design. Experiment 3 evaluated palatability (0 vs. 100 g/kg of PS and 0 vs. 300 g/kg of PS diets) using 16 puppies. Diets with the highest PS level presented the largest kibbles expansion ratio, greater hardness and number of pores while the density was decreased (p .05). Puppies preferred diets (p < .05) containing higher PS levels. The addition of PS in the diets produces kibbles with a high expansion index and low density. Potato starch is a good starch source for adult dogs, and particularly for puppies, as it improves the digestibility of dietary nutrients and increases faecal DM, in addition of being more palatable than corn.Highlights Potato starch increases expansion and reduces density of kibbles. Potato starch presents higher digestibility and metabolizable energy than corn. Potato starch improves diet palatability.

Keywords

• extrusion
• food preference
• resistant starch
• starch
• tuber