Objective: Information about the chemical composition of cassava-based feed ingredients is needed to accurately formulate animal diets. A study was conducted to determine the chemical composition of cassava-based feed ingredients and to test the hypothesis that there is variation in chemical composition among cassava products originating from different South-East Asian countries.Methods: Sources of dried peeled and unpeeled cassava roots, cassava chips, cassava meal, high-ash cassava meal, and cassava residue were used. All samples were analyzed for dry matter, gross energy, nitrogen, amino acids (AA), acid-hydrolyzed ether extract (AEE), ash, minerals, total starch, insoluble dietary fiber, and soluble dietary fiber. Samples of peeled and unpeeled cassava roots, cassava chips, and cassava meal were also analyzed for sugars.Results: High-ash cassava meal had greater (p<0.05) dry matter and ash, but lower (p<0.05) total starch and gross energy than all other cassava products. Peeled cassava roots, unpeeled cassava roots, and cassava chips had greater (p<0.05) total starch than the other cassava-based ingredients. Cassava residue had greater (p<0.05) concentrations of lysine, insoluble dietary fiber, and soluble dietary fiber compared with the other cassava products, but tryptophan and glutamic acid were greater (p<0.05) in peeled cassava roots, cassava chips, and cassava meal samples compared with the other ingredients. Concentration of most minerals was greater (p<0.05) in high-ash cassava meal than in the other cassava products.Conclusion: Cassava-based ingredients sold as peeled roots, unpeeled roots, chips, or meal have chemical compositions that are not different from each other, and peeling has little impact on chemical composition. High-ash cassava meal has lower nutritional quality compared with other cassava products due to low starch and gross energy. The high fiber content in cassava residue makes this ingredient more suitable for ruminants and sows than for younger pigs or poultry.

Objective: Oilseeds and nut co-products can be used as alternative feed ingredients in animal diets because they may have a lower cost than traditional ingredients. A study was, therefore, conducted to determine the chemical composition of copra, palm kernel, and nut coproducts from South-East Asia or Australia. The hypothesis that country of production influences nutritional composition was tested.Methods: Oilseed meals included 2 copra expellers, 3 copra meals, and 12 palm kernel expellers. One source of almond hulls and cashew nut meal were also used. Samples were obtained from suppliers located in South-East Asia or Australia. All samples were analyzed for dry matter, gross energy, nitrogen, amino acids (AA), acid-hydrolyzed ether extract (AEE), ash, minerals, insoluble dietary fiber, and soluble dietary fiber. Copra and nut coproducts were also analyzed for total starch and sugars.Results: Copra expellers had greater (p<0.05) concentrations of dry matter and AEE compared with copra meal. However, copra meal had greater (p<0.05) concentrations of total dietary fiber (soluble and insoluble) and copper than copra expellers. Palm kernel expellers from Indonesia had greater (p<0.05) concentration of histidine and tyrosine compared with palm kernel expellers from Vietnam. Almond hulls was high in dietary fiber, but also contained free glucose and fructose, whereas cashew nut meal was high in AEE, but low in all free sugars.Conclusion: Copra expellers have greater concentration of AEE, but less concentration of total dietary fiber when compared with copra meal, and except for a few AA, no differences in nutrient composition of palm kernel expellers produced in Indonesia or Vietnam were detected. According to the chemical composition of nut co-products, cashew nut meal may be more suitable for non-ruminant diets than almond hulls.

The hypothesis that pigs fed a low crude protein (CP) diet with 6% spray-dried plasma (SDP) in phase 1 will have improved growth and intestinal health if the phase-2 diet contains 2.5% SDP was tested. Three hundred weaned pigs were used. Growth performance, feces, blood, and intestinal tissue were evaluated. Pigs fed 6% SDP in phase 1 had improved average daily gain (ADG) and final body weight (BW), but had reduced villus-height-to-crypt-depth ratio in phase 2 if 2.5% SDP was included in the normal-CP diet (p < 0.05), but not in the low-CP diet. Diarrhea incidence was less (p < 0.05) with 2.5% SDP in the phase 2 diet and for the low-CP diet. Ileal mucosa interleukin-1α (IL-1α) and IL-1β decreased (p < 0.05) for pigs fed the phase-1 diet with 6% SDP compared with pigs fed the diet without SDP. Addition of 2.5% SDP in phase 2 reduced (p < 0.05) IL-1β compared with the diet without SDP. Although the combination of SDP and low CP did not affect intestinal health in phase 2, diarrhea incidence and pro-inflammatory cytokines were reduced in pigs fed SDP in phase 1 or phase 2 or if a low-CP diet was fed.

Objective: A study was conducted to determine the chemical composition of barley and co-products from barley, corn, and wheat produced in South-East Asia or Australia, and to test the hypothesis that production area or production methods can impact the chemical composition of wheat co-products.Methods: Samples included seven barley grains, two malt barley rootlets, one corn gluten feed, one corn gluten meal, one corn bran, eight wheat brans, one wheat mill mix, and four wheat pollards. All samples were analyzed for dry matter, gross energy, nitrogen, amino acids (AA), acid hydrolyzed ether extract, ash, minerals, starch, and insoluble dietary fiber and soluble dietary fiber. Malt barley rootlets and wheat co-products were also analyzed for sugars.Results: Chemical composition of barley, malt barley rootlets, and corn co-products were in general similar across countries. Wheat pollard had greater (p<0.05) concentrations of tryptophan, magnesium, and potassium compared with wheat bran, whereas wheat bran had greater (p<0.05) concentration of copper than wheat pollard. There were no differences in chemical composition between wheat bran produced in Australia and wheat bran produced in Thailand.Conclusion: Intact barley contains more starch, but fewer AA, than grain co-products. There were only few differences in the composition of wheat bran and wheat pollard, indicating that the two ingredients are similar, but with different names. However, corn gluten meal contains more protein and less fiber than corn bran.

In vitro methods for protein quality assessment have great potential, but to represent a real alternative, they need validation against in vivo data. In particular, there is a lack of data on plant protein sources, which are increasingly demanded as environmentally and ethically alternative to animal-based proteins. This study evaluated the digestibility and digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) of 17 plant-based substrates using an in vitro method based on an internationally harmonized protocol, and the results were compared with standardized ileal digestibility determined in pigs on the same substrates. Except for corn flakes, the in vitro protocol predicted the crude protein and amino acid digestibility, with absolute percent errors below 20 %. The effect of heat treatment on the rapeseed protein digestibility was also evidenced by the peptide profile of ileal contents, pointing to napin as the main contributor to the protein resistance. The presence of trypsin inhibitors in the sample could limit the use of in vitro methods; however, methodological adjustments such as the optimization of the substrate load can overcome this issue. These findings provide evidence of the applicability of in vitro digestion protocols for evaluating protein nutritional quality, advancing efforts to reduce the use of animals in nutrition science.

The objectives of this experiment were to determine the digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) for eggs cooked in different forms and in traditional egg-bread or egg-hash brown combinations, and to test the hypothesis that DIAAS in eggs is greater than in breads or potatoes. Nine ileal cannulated gilts (average initial body weight: 51.1 ± 6.0 kg) were allotted to a 9 × 6 Youden square design with nine diets and six 7-day periods. Fried egg, boiled egg, scrambled egg, English muffin, Texas toast, and hash brown were included in the experiment. Six diets each contained one source of protein and three diets were combinations of fried eggs and English muffin, boiled eggs and Texas toast, or scrambled egg and hash brown. A nitrogen-free diet was also used and fed to all pigs in one period. The standardised ileal digestibility (SID) of crude protein (CP) and amino acids (AA) was calculated, and DIAAS was calculated for the individual ingredient and combined meals for children between 6 and 36 months and individuals older than 3 years. For both age groups, all cooked eggs had greater (P < 0.001) DIAAS compared with the other foods, and hash brown had greater (P < 0.001) DIAAS than both breads. All combined meals had DIAAS greater than 75 and there were no differences between measured and predicted DIAAS for the combined meals. In conclusion, eggs have ‘excellent’ protein quality for individuals older than 6 months and can compensate for the lower protein quality in plant-based foods, and DIAAS obtained from individual ingredients are additive in mixed meals.