Poultry Meal Autoclaving Time-Related Reduction in Energy Utilization for Growing Pigs

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine effect of autoclaving on energy concentrations in poultry meal (PoMe) fed to growing pigs. Poultry meal from the same batch was autoclaved at 134°C for 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, or 180 min for 7 samples. Eight experimental diets consisting of a basal diet based on corn and soybean meal and 7 test diets replacing 15% of energy-contributing ingredients in the basal diet with the 7 PoMe samples were used. A total of 64 barrows (initial BW = 19.4 ± 1.0 kg) were employed and the experiment consisted of 4 batches. In each batch, different 16 pigs were allotted to the 8 diets in a randomized complete block design based on BW as a blocking factor. Experimental period for each batch consisted of 5 d of adaptation and 5 d of quantitative collection. Feces were collected according to the marker-to-marker procedure and energy utilization in PoMe was derived using the difference procedure. As autoclaving time increased, digestible energy, metabolizable energy, and apparent total tract digestibility of nitrogen linearly decreased (P < 0.05) in the experimental diets. Based on regression lines of energy concentrations against autoclaving time, the respective digestible and metabolizable energy concentrations of PoMe linearly decreased (P < 0.05) from 4.7 to 3.9 kcal/g DM and 4.6 to 3.6 kcal/g DM with increasing autoclaving time from 0 to 180 min. In conclusion, autoclaving for 180 min decreased energy utilization in PoMe by approximately 20%, which could negatively affect growth performance of pigs.