PARTNER ARTICLE ▶▶▶
Agile amino acids for piglet gut health
In the context of reducing antibiotic and zinc oxide use, the spotlight is now on piglet gut health. Reducing dietary protein content is one of the main drivers for reducing gut disorders, however this must not come at the expense of performance objectives.
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Source: Ajinomoto Animal Nutrition Europe, 2019. Dietary crude protein (%)
10 ▶PIG PROGRESS | Volume 35, No. 10, 2019
BY AUDE SIMONGIOVANNI, WILLIAM LAMBERT AND ETIENNE CORRENT, AJINOMOTO ANIMAL NUTRITION EUROPE
eaning is a critical period for piglets: young animals are removed from the sow, transi- tioned from liquid to solid feed, and mixed with other litters in a new environment. Those
changes generate stress and usually have dramatic effects on gut health and feed intake. It has been reported that 50% of piglets do not consume any food in the first 24-hours post- weaning. All these changes lead to discomfort, diarrhoea, growth check and sometimes mortality. There is a need to find new nutritional strategies, catering to the growing pres- sure to reduce antibiotics and zinc oxide usage while preserv- ing technical-economic performance. Driven by the challenge
Figure 1 - Literature review on the effect of dietary protein level on faecal score or diarrhoea index (expressed in % of the high protein diet).
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to improve animal production sustainability, dietary protein reduction needs further consideration. We need to reconsider the way amino acid nutrition in diet formulation is addressed. There are many examples of the need to apply agile amino acid nutrition, including: • the context of formulation; • optimising targeted criteria; • interactions between amino acids associated with protein reduction;
• limiting effects of applying several amino acids simultaneously;
• the functional roles of amino acids.
Reducing protein levels A lower supply of dietary protein reduces the global amount of undigested protein in the distal intestine and results in a better acidification (and digestion) of the bolus. It also reduces protein microbial fermentation, preventing the development of pathogenic bacteria. Together, these effects are responsible for reduced gut disorders and less diarrhoea (Figure 1). Low dietary protein strategy is now recognised as an effective method to reduce gut disorders, leading to its implementa- tion in Europe in the past 10 years. Piglets have a specific need for indispensable amino acids, but not for dietary pro- tein, hence dietary amino acid levels must be managed. Of the 20 proteogenic amino acids, nine are indispensable for piglets: lysine (Lys), methionine (Met), threonine (Thr), trypto- phan (Trp), valine (Val), isoleucine (Ile), leucine (Leu), histidine (His) and phenylalanine (Phe). While these were available in excess in the past, some are now either limiting or co-limiting; this must be carefully mon- itored to avoid risking performance. However, depending on the raw material situation, the matrix used, the level of pro- tein, and the desired performance criteria, amino acid nutri- tion becomes increasingly contextual. For example, in a wheat/barley-based diet, leucine may be more limiting than isoleucine, in contrast to a leucine-rich corn-based diet.
Agile amino acid nutrition Amino acid requirements are estimated by dose-response studies, and meta-analyses are used to integrate the variability and estimate an average response. The ideal protein concept is used in feed formulation in which amino acids are expressed
Diarrhoea index (% of the high crude protein diet)
PHOTO: AJINOMOTO
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