Classifying Genetic Lines in Pork Production by Ileal Crude Protein and Amino Acid Digestibility in Growing Pigs

Abstract

The first aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of different dietary lysine (LYS) to energy (DE) ratios on the apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of crude protein (CP) and selected amino acids (AA) in growing pigs (40–60 kg) of different genotypes. The second aim was to classify genotypes into groups based on the AID of CP and AAs. The trials were conducted on a total of 90 cross-bred barrows (30 animals/genotype) in two replicates. Before the trial series, the experimental animals (average initial body weight (BW) = 40.9 ± 8.5 kg) were surgically fitted with post valve T-cannula (PVTC). The diets were formulated with six different total LYS/DE ratios. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) was added to the diets (5 g/kg) as an indigestible marker. Based on our results, it can be concluded that the LYS/DE ratio of the diets affected the AID of the CP and AA in different ways by each genotype (p < 0.05). It can also be concluded that pigs of different genetic potential can be classified with a high accuracy (91.7%) in respect of their CP and AA digestive capacity. Our results indicate the development of genetic-profile-based swine nutrition technologies as a future direction.

Keywords

• pigs
• feeding
• genetic lines
• growth performance
• ileal digestibility
• crude protein