Ileal amino-acid digestibility of wheat, autoclaved wheat and spaghetti by-products for broiler chicks

An experiment was conducted to determine true and apparent ileal amino-acid digestibility of a native cultivar of wheat (Mahdavi), autoclaved wheat (120 degrees C for 30 min) and spaghetti by-products available in Iran. One hundred 21-day-old broiler chickens were fed a standard corn-soybean meal starter diet from day 0 to 28 post hatch. At 28 days 80 chicks were distributed according to possessing very nearly the same average bodyweight to 20 wire cages. The experimental units were allocated at random to five dietary treatments with four replicates per treatment. The basal diet contained corn and soybean meal as the major ingredients. Three test diets were formulated containing wheat, autoclaved wheat and spaghetti by-products as the sole source of dietary protein and each test diet was combined with a basal diet 50:50 on a weight basis to form three assay diets. The apparent and true digestibility of amino acid in the test ingredients were estimated from those in the assay diets basal/test diet mixtures, using the difference method. The apparent and true amino-acid digestibility of the test ingredients were significantly different (P < 0.01). Autoclaving of wheat increase its amino-acid digestibility (P < 0.01). Among the test ingredients, the average ileal amino-acid digestibility of spaghetti by-products was higher than wheat and autoclaved wheat but it was lower than values for the basal diet (P < 0.01).