PSXIII-13 Digestibility of amino acids, energy, and minerals in ahiflower seed and ahiflower press cake for broiler chickens.

Abstract Ahiflower seed (AS), a novel oilseed rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, and ahiflower presscake (APC), the byproduct of expeller processing of AS, can be utilized as sources of energy, protein, and minerals in broiler chicken diets. However, their nutrient availabilities are unknown. We conducted an experiment to determine the nitrogen corrected apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn), apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of Ca and P, and standardized ileal digestible (SID) amino acid contents in AS and APC. From d 14 to 21, Ross 308 broiler chicks were housed in groups of 5 in 32 cages, and cages assigned to 1 of 4 diets, in a completely randomized design (n=8 cages). The diets were:1) a corn-soybean meal-based diet formulated to meet the nutrient requirements of the chicks; 2) corn and soybean meal in diet 1 replaced by 30% AS; 3) corn and soybean meal in diet 1 replaced by 30% APC; and 4) a low protein casein-cornstarch-based diet fed to estimate basal ileal endogenous amino acid (AA) losses. All diets contained celite (1%) as an indigestible marker. Excreta samples were collected from d 19 to 21 and pooled/cage for AMEn determination. On d 21, all birds were euthanized by cervical dislocation, and the contents of the distal ileum were obtained and pooled/cage to determine the digestibility of AA, P, and Ca. On an as-is basis (kcal/kg), AS had AME and AMEn of 1,707 and 1,640, respectively, while APC had AME and AMEn of 1,510 and 1,579, respectively. Similar to the AID values, the SID (%) of Arg (88.3), Met (87.6), Ala (85.3), Glu (87.8), and Tyr (84.9) in APC were significantly higher (P< 0.05) than those obtained for AS (82.7, 76.7, 74.8, 77.5, 76.6%, respectively). APC also had higher (P< 0.01) SID contents for all AA acids (both dispensable and indispensable) than AS; thus, it may be a better protein source for broiler chickens. APC had higher AID values for Ca and P than AS. In conclusion, AS and APC can be combined with other protein and energy sources to partially replace them, with the aim of reducing feed cost, reducing competition with human food, and favouring food security.