Effect of Oilseed Supplementation on Amino Acid Digestibility in Laying Hen Diets

Abstract

Linseed and camelina seed are used in laying hen diets for obtaining eggs enriched in PUFA, being also a potential source of protein for poultry. The bioavailability of amino acids is an important criterion used to evaluate the ef icient utilization of feedstuffs. This study was performed in order to determine the amino acid digestibility coef icients from diets supplemented with oilseeds and fenugreek seeds. An experiment was conducted on 114 laying hens, assigned to 3 groups (C, E1, E2) and housed in metabolic cages (2 hens/cage, 38 hens/group). The hens were fed with a corn-soybean meal based diet. The experimental diets enriched in PUFA were supplemented with 5% linseed and 2% camelina seed (E1), and 2% linseed, 2 % camelina seed and 1% fenugreek seed (E2). During the inal week, the ingesta, the feed leftovers and the excreta were daily recorded, in order to form weekly average samples for amino acid balance. The aminoacids were determined by HPLC using a method according to the UE Regulation 152/2009. The digestibility coef icients of the dietary essential aminoacids decreased signi icantly in E2 (P≤0.05) when compared with the control: for lysine 86.85±2.74% in C, 81.33±1.97% in E2; for methionine 87.30±1.43% in C, 80.99±3.09% in E2; for cystine 87.21±1.40% in C, 85.16±1.48% for E2. The group E1 did not register any signi icant differences compared with C and E2. The results of this study revealed a decreasing effect on aminoacid digestibility in the group with supplemented fenugreek seed and oilseeds.