A comparison of waxy versus non-waxy wheats in diets for weaner pigs: effects of particle size, enzyme supplementation, and collection day on total tract apparent digestibility and pig performance

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-12-2005

Journal Title

Animal Feed Science and Technology

ISSN

Print: 0377-8401 Electronic: 1873-2216

Keywords

Waxy wheat, Particle size, Xylanase, Collection day, Digestibility, Pigs

Disciplines

Animal Sciences | Meat Science

Abstract

An experiment with a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments was conducted to examine effects of wheat (waxy versus non-waxy), particle size (mean particle size 580 μm versus 920 μm), and supplementation of enzyme (with or without xylanase + β-glucanase) on the coefficient of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) measured at both 7 and 21 days after weaning. Waxy wheat contained less crude protein (CP), less starch, a lower amylose:amylopectin ratio, more non-starch polysaccharide (NSP), and had a higher in vitro extract viscosity than non-waxy wheat. Pigs fed the waxy wheat had a higher CTTAD of starch (P < 0.05) and tended to have a higher CTTAD of crude protein (P = 0.058). The reduction in particle size significantly increased the CTTAD of starch (P < 0.001). The CTTAD of gross energy (GE) was not influenced by different wheat type or particle size. The enzyme improved the CTTAD of starch (P < 0.01) and tended to improve the dietary digestible energy (DE) content (P = 0.056), but not that of other dietary components. However, the efficacy of the enzyme on DE content tended to influenced by a wheat by enzyme interaction (P = 0.069), such that the enzyme more effectively improved DE content with the waxy wheat (16.3 MJ/kg dry matter (DM) versus 15.6 MJ/kg DM) compared to the non-waxy wheat (15.8 MJ/kg DM versus 15.8 MJ/kg DM). The CTTAD of CP was influenced by a particle size by enzyme interaction (P < 0.01), such that enzyme supplementation increased the CTTAD of CP in a larger particle-sized diet (0.74 versus 0.72), while it decreased the CTTAD of CP in a finer particle-sized diet (0.71 versus 0.75). The CTTAD of CP but not starch and gross energy was increased at 21 days compared to that at 7 days after weaning. No significant effects of wheat, particle size, and enzyme were observed on daily gain, feed intake, and feed efficiency, although a wheat by enzyme interaction for daily gain (P < 0.05) and a wheat by particle size × enzyme interaction for feed intake (P < 0.05) were observed. In conclusion, waxy wheat, a smaller particle size, and enzyme supplementation were beneficial for starch digestibility, and weaned pigs increased their ability to digest protein with increasing age.

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS
 

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2005.01.004