Beschreibung
Analytical and nutritional evaluation of rye grain in diets for growing pigs
Climate change and increasing consumer awareness of environmental and animal welfare issues are constantly
challenging the animal nutrition sector to adapt and find improved solutions that are resource efficient, meet the
requirements of pigs and promote animal welfare. One such approach is the use of regional feedstuffs such as rye
and rapeseed meal to feed pigs. In the past, both feedstuffs were rarely used in conventional pig feeds due to low
yields and high concentrations of antinutritive substances. Further development of the varieties; more recent
scientific findings; as well as their sensible use from economic, agronomic and animal nutrition points of view
require a re-evaluation of rye grain (hybrid rye) and rapeseed meal. For this purpose, compound feeds made from
wheat or rye grain were combined with soybean or rapeseed meal and compared regarding several research
questions.
The digestibility of phosphorus (P) with and without the supplementation of phytase in the aforementioned
compound feeds was investigated, which is important on the one hand because of the finite nature of P and on the
other hand because of the negative environmental impact of a surplus. The type of cereal grain had no influence
on the P digestibility of the compound feeds; consequently, the high concentration of intrinsic phytase in rye
compared with wheat had no influence on P digestibility. In the compound feeds with soybean or rapeseed meal,
phytase supplementation produced the same P digestibility: 70.2% and 69.5%, respectively.
Rye and rapeseed meal shifted nitrogen excretion from urine to faeces due to the higher fibre concentration
compared with wheat and soybean meal, thus contributing to the reduction in ammonia release from manure.
The metabolisable energy content in the compound feeds was ? 14.2 MJ/kg dry matter, which is suitable for
growing pigs.
Rye grain and rapeseed meal are both characterised by a high fibre content. Rye has a relatively high content of
soluble dietary fibre, to which positive nutritional and health-promoting characteristics are attributed. Because the
soluble and insoluble dietary fibre fractions can vary greatly in their composition and thus in their effect, a
practicable procedure should be established to analyse all the individual carbohydrate fractions of the dietary fibres
by means of enzymatic photometric, enzymatic gravimetric and chemical gravimetric methods and applied in feed
and faecal samples. Due to many interfering factors and complex matrices, the establishment of such a method
was not possible. Hence, alternative approaches were considered, whereby in particular sum parameters that
subdivide fibre into soluble and insoluble fractions are currently the best practical approach for a differentiated
fibre analysis. In the field of dietary fibre analysis, differences in the implementation and description of methods
can be observed, which severely limit the comparability, so the scientific community must establish clear rules
and definitions in this respect.
The use of compound feeds containing rye grain and rapeseed meal is recommended for growing pigs based on
the results obtained, using proper feed formulation and common feed additives such as phytase.