An Evaluation of Several Winter Selections of Triticale as a Source of Protein and Energy for Weanling Pigs2

Abstract

A nutritional evaluation of several winter triticale selections harvested in 1974 and 1975 was made using weanling pigs (9 kg body weight) to determine biological value (BV), net protein value (NPV) and metabolizable energy (ME) of 1974 selections and protein efficiency ratio (PER) of 1975 selections. The usefulness of lysine and threonine supplementation and/or autoclaving of the 1974 selections on BV and NPV was also evaluated. Four 1974 triticale selections were finely ground and basal diets containing about 85% triticale were formed for each selection and adequately complemented nutritionally with the exception of protein quality. Energy balance was conducted on these basal diets and nitrogen balance was conducted on each of the basal diets with or without supplementation with .3% L-lysine plus .2% L-threonine and with or without autoclaving the diet at 121 C at 9.5 kg/cm² for 1 hr in a 4 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. Two of the selections (MSU-3, MSU-4) had superior NPV values (P<.01) and selection MSU-4 had a higher ME value than the other selections. Additions of lysine and threonine to the basal diets significantly increased BV and NPV values (P<.05). Autoclaving the diets likewise significantly improved BV and NPV (P<.01). Four 1975 selections were evaluated by incorporating them into basal diets consisting of over 90% triticale with each diet adequately complemented with minerals and vitamins and made to 16% crude protein with wheat gluten. PER values of these diets ranged from .68 to 1.44 compared with 3.26 for a 16% crude protein corn-soybean meal diet. Copyright © 1978. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1978 by American Society of Animal Science.