Energy and protein values of lucerne leaf meal in growing pigs

David Renaudeau (1) , M. Duputel (2) , E. Junker (3) , C. Calvar (2)

1 PEGASE - Physiologie, Environnement et Génétique pour l'Animal et les Systèmes d'Elevage [Rennes]
2 Chambres d’Agriculture de Bretagne
3 Trust'Ing

Forage legumes efficiently utilise the growing season and represent a relevant way to ensure soil cover and to produce high protein yields. Among the range of forage, leaf fraction of lucerne would be considered as a valuable protein source for swine. Two experiments were thus conducted to determine the energy and the protein values of lucerne leaf meal (LLM) in growing pigs. In the first experiment, total tract digestibility coefficient (TTD) of energy was measured on a total of 25 pigs (60 kg BW) randomly allotted to five different dietary treatments: 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% of LLM was incorporated in a wheat-soybean meal diet. On a dry matter basis, the average crude protein (CP), lysine, crude fibre and gross energy contents of LLM were 25.3%, 1.09%, 15.5% and 19.3 MJ/kg, respectively. After 10-days adaptation period, faeces and urines were collected during seven consecutive days. In the second experiment, the apparent (AID) and standardized (SID) ileal digestibility coefficient of AA were measured on five pigs (32.4 kg) fitted with ileo-rectal anastomosis and arranged in a 5×5 Latin square design with 6 periods and five diets containing 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% of LLM. Pigs were fed each of the five diets during one 7-days period, and ileal digesta were collected on d 5, 6 and 7. On the 6th period, all the pigs were fed with a free protein diet for the measurement of the basal ileal endogenous. As expected, the TTD of energy linearly decreased with increasing inclusion of LLM in the diet. On average, the TTD value and the digestible energy content of leaf meal were 45.4% and 8.5 MJ/kg. Increasing the rate of incorporation of LLM reduced the AID for crude protein and amino acids. This reduction was linear (P<0.05). On average, the AID and SID of lysine were 57.7 and 62.5%, respectively. These low digestibility of energy and lysine are probably explained by the presence of anti-nutritional factors (saponins, polyphenols, etc.) at a high concentration in the LLM.

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

David Renaudeau, M. Duputel, E. Junker, C. Calvar. Energy and protein values of lucerne leaf meal in growing pigs. 70. Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP), Aug 2019, Gand, Belgium. Wageningen Academic Publishers, Annual Meeting of the European Association for Animal Production, 25, 2019, Annual Meeting of the European Association for Animal Production. ⟨hal-02306158⟩