Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have found that a novel reduced-oligosaccharide soybean meal (SBM-RO) has a higher metabolisable energy content than conventional SBM (SBM-CV) and that both types have similar amino acid digestibility values.

The nutritional values of SBM-RO and SBM-CV were evaluated and compared in four experiments by Xi Chen of the University and co-authors there and with Integrative Nutrition Inc.

Reporting in Poultry Science, they explain that their first experiment was a nitrogen-corrected True Metabolisable Energy assay with conventional roosters. The second experiment was a precision-fed caecectomised rooster assay that was conducted to determine nitrogen-corrected TME and amino acid (AA) digestibility. The third experiment was a standardised ileal amino acid digestibility assay, in which broiler chicks were fed semi-purified diets containing 20 per cent protein (from only the test ingredient) for 17 to 21 days of age and ileal digesta were collected on day 21. The fourth experiment was a growth performance trial (7 to 20 days of age) where broiler chicks were fed corn-SBM diets (adequate in all amino acids) containing 38.84 per cent SBM-RO or SBM-CV.

The protein content (100 per cent dry-matter basis) of the SBM-CV and SBM-RO was 51.9 and 54.8 per cent, respectively.

The gross energy of the two meals was similar.

The nitrogen-corrected TME values in both conventional roosters and caecectomised roosters were significantly higher (P<0.05) for SBM-RO than for SBM-CV; the difference was approximately 200kcal per kg of dry matter.

Amino acid digestibility in caecectomised roosters was not different between SBM-CV and SBM-RO, with the exception of tryptophan, alanine, asparagine and cystine (SBM-RO > SBM-CV; P<0.05).

No significant differences between the SBM were found for AA digestibility in the standardised amino acid digestibility assay.

In the growth performance trial (experiment 4), the corn-SBM diet containing SBM-RO yielded significantly higher feed efficiency than the diet containing SBM-CV (P<0.001).

Reference

^{Chen X., C.M. Parsons and N. Bajjalieh. 2013. Nutritional evaluation of new reduced oligosaccharide soybean meal in poultry. Poult. Sci. 92(7):1830-1836. doi: 10.3382/ps.2012-02856}