Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
2001 S. Lincoln Ave.
URBANA,IL 61801
Performing Department
Animal Sciences
Non Technical Summary
By 2050, the world population is estimated to be over 9.5 billion, resulting in a food demand that is almost twice as much as the current food production. Currently, 32 million cattle, 112 million pigs, and 8.5 billion chickens are grown and slaughtered in the U.S. annually. In order to meet the greater demand for food, meat production is expected to increase by 200 million tones by 2050. Feed ingredient availability is a major concern to sustain livestock production. The cost of feed is a key constraint in livestock operations, representing over 50% of the total production cost, with protein sources being the most expensive macro-ingredient added in feed formulations.With a larger number of animals being harvested for meat production, a proportional increase in animal byproducts will also occur. Animal byproducts are defined as parts of the food animal that are considered inedible by humans (e.g., bones, fat, blood, feathers, and some internal organs). These byproducts are, generally, rendered to various forms of meals that then can be safely stored and used as feed ingredients for livestock, poultry, aquaculture, and companion animals.Similar to humans, the companion animal population is also expected to continue to rise worldwide. According to the American Pet Product Association, it is estimated that the feline and canine pet population in the U. S. is approximately 96 and 83 million, respectively. Putting it in perspective, in the U.S., the number of pet animals surpasses the American children population of 73 million. This increase in the popularity of pet animals and the development of a closer human-animal bond creates a greater demand and expectation by pet owners for high quality ingredients and nutritional adequate diets that may enhance the health and longevity of their pet animals. Furthermore, pet humanization has also led to the search for human-like products, which further increases the pressure on the agriculture and food industry.Therefore, further research characterizing the chemical composition and nutritional adequacy of alternative and sustainable protein sources is of vital importance to create viable solutions to feed livestock and to create nutritionally adequate and complete diets for companion animals, while maintaining a sustainable food chain without direct competition with human food systems.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
1. To characterize the macronutrient composition of the selected novel protein sources.2. To determine the crude protein disappearance using in vitro assay and to determine protein quality, and apparent and standardized small intestinal and total tract nutrient digestibility using the cecectomized rooster and ileal cannulated pig models.3. To assess gastrointestinal tolerance, apparent total tract digestibility, and palatability of canine diets manufactured with selected novel protein sources.
Project Methods
Eight novel selected protein sources (e.g., silkworm meal, mealworm meal, earthworm meal, duck meal, quail meal, alligator meal, pea protein, and potato protein) will be tested in this study and compared to two protein sources (soybean meal and poultry meal) commonly used in livestock feed and canine diets. Sample ingredients will be ground in a Wiley mill (model 4, Arthur H. Thomas, Swedesboro, NJ) through a 1-mm screen. Each substrate will be analyzed for dry matter and organic matter, crude protein, amino acid, mineral concentrations (AOAC, 2000), and gross energy (model 6200 Isoperibol Calorimeter, Parr Instrument Manuals, Parr Instrument Co., Moline, IL). Total fat content will be determined by acid hydrolysis (AACC, 1983), followed by ether extraction (Budde, 1952). All ingredients will be analyzed in duplicate, with a 5% error allowed between duplicates; otherwise, analyses will be repeated. A multiple enzymatic filtration system in vitro assay also will be conducted. The objective of this assay is to predict nutrient digestibility of food or ingredients mimicking the hydrolytic and enzymatic digestion using the method of Boisen and Eggum (1991).A precision-fed cecectomized rooster assay, as described by Sibbald (1979), will be conducted to quantify standardized AA digestibilities of 8 novel selected protein sources (e.g., silkworm meal, mealworm meal, earthworm meal, duck meal, quail meal, alligator meal, pea protein, and potato protein) and 2 protein sources (soybean meal and poultry meal; controls) commonly used in livestock feed and canine diets. Two studies using twenty-four Single Comb White Leghorn roosters, 50 weeks of age, will be conducted. Each study will consist of 6 dietary treatments (using 4 novel protein sources and the 2 controls). Cecectomy will be performed under anesthesia when birds are 25 weeks of age according to the procedure of Parsons (1985). All roosters will be given at least 8 weeks to recover from surgery before being used in the experiment. All birds will be housed individually. Before the beginning of the experiment, the birds will have ad libitum access to feed and water. Roosters will be deprived of feed for 24 hours and then crop-intubated with approximately 30 g of each ingredient. Each ingredient will be fed to 4 roosters. After crop intubation, excreta (urine and feces) will be collected for 48 hours on plastic trays placed under each cage. Lyophilized ground samples will be analyzed to determine AA concentrations. Endogenous excretion of AA will be measured by using 4 additional roosters held without feed throughout the experimental period. Standardized digestibility of AA will be calculated by using the method described by Sibbald (1979). The difference between apparent AA digestibility and standardized AA digestibility is that the latter takes into consideration the amount of AA excreted during fasting. Feed and excreta from cecectomized roosters also will be analyzed for nitrogen (AOAC, 2000) and GE by using an adiabatic bomb calorimeter standardized with benzoic acid. True ME corrected for nitrogen (TMEn) will be calculated by the method of Sibbald (1976).Apparent ileal and total tract digestibility of crude protein and amino acids will be determined using the ileal cannulated pig model. Two experiments will be conducted and in both experiments, growing barrows that are the offspring of Line 359 boars mated to C-46 sows (Pig Improvement Company, Hendersonville, TN) will be used. Experiment 1 will be conducted to determine the ileal digestibility of crude protein and amino acids. Eleven barrows will be surgically fitted with a T-cannula in the distal ileum (Stein et al., 1998). After surgery, pigs will be housed individually in pens (1.2 x 1.5 m) that are equipped with a feeder and a nipple drinker and a fully slatted floor. Eight diets will be based on each of the 8 novel selected protein sources (e.g., silkworm meal, mealworm meal, earthworm meal, duck meal, quail meal, alligator meal, pea protein, and potato protein) as the sole source of amino acids, and two additional diets will be based on soybean meal or poultry meal. The last diet is a N-free diet that is used to estimate basal endogenous losses of amino acids from the pigs. Pigs will be allotted to a 11 x 11 Latin square. Titanium dioxide (0.4%) will be included in all diets as an indigestible marker. Each period will last 7 days with the ileal digesta being collected from the cannulas on days 6 and 7 of each period following standard procedures. Experiment 2 will be conducted to determine the total tract digestibility of energy and phosphorus in the 8 novel selected protein sources and soybean meal and poultry meal. A corn based diet and 10 diets based on corn and each protein source will be formulated. A total of 88 pigs will be allotted to the 11 diets in a completely randomized design with 8 replicate pigs per diet. Pigs will be placed in metabolism crates equipped with a feeder and a nipple drinker, a fully slatted floor, a fecal collection screen, and a urine tray that allows for the total collection of urine and fecal materials from each pig. The experiment will last 12 days. The first 5 days will be the diet adaptation phase, followed by a 7 day fecal and urine collection using the marker to marker approach (Adeola, 2001). Feces and urine will be collected and stored at -20°C for analyses. All diets, ingredients, ileal, and fecal samples will be analyzed for crude protein (AOAC, 2000). Diets, ingredients, ileal digesta, and fecal samples will be analyzed for amino acid concentrations on a Hitachi AA Analyzer, Model No. L8800 (Hitachi High Technologies America, Inc., Pleasanton, CA) using ninhydrin for postcolumn derivatization and norleucine as the internal standard. The concentration of titanium in diets and freeze-dried ileal digesta will be determined following the procedure of Myers et al. (2004). Diets, ingredients, freeze-dried ileal samples, feces, and freeze-dried urine samples will be analyzed in duplicate for GE using bomb calorimetry (Model 6300; Parr Instruments, Moline, IL), and the apparent ileal digestibility and apparent total tract digestibility of gross, digestible and metabolizable energy, and crude protein and amino acids of each diet will be calculated (Adeola, 2001; Stein et al., 2007).Two Latin square design experiments will be conducted to investigate gastrointestinal tolerance, apparent total tract digestibility, and palatability of canine diets manufactured with selected novel protein sources. Each diet will be formulated with one of the 8 novel protein sources or one of the 2 control protein sources as the main dietary protein source. Dry extruded diets will be isocaloric and isonitrogenous, and formulatedaccording to NRC (2006) recommended allowances for an adult dog. The first 10 days of each experimental period will serve as an adaptation phase, followed by 4 days of total fecal collection. During the 4 days of total fecal and urine collection, all feces excreted during each period will be collected, weighed, scored, and frozen at -20°C until analysis. On day 11 of each period, fresh fecal samples were collected within 15 minutes of defecation. Aliquots for analysis of phenols, indoles, and biogenic amines will be frozen at -20°C immediately after collection. One aliquot of approximately 2 g will be collected and placed in approximately 2 mL of 2N HCl for ammonia and short- and branched-chain fatty acids analyses. Additional aliquots were used for pH measurement and fresh fecal dry matter determination. All diets and fecal samples will be analyzed for crude protein, amino acid concentration, and gross energy using same methods as described above. Apparent total tract nutrient digestibility of each diet will be calculated.