Canada - Feeding Trials Confirm Value of Pearling in Decontaminating Fusarium Infected Grain

Feeding trials conducted at the University of Manitoba have confirmed pearling as an effective way to remove mycotoxins from fusarium infected barley and boost digestible energy content. Using a commercial scale rice whitener to grind away the outer hulls of DON contaminated barley, researchers at the University of Manitoba were able to remove 70 percent of the mycotoxin and increase the grain's digestible energy value by 15 to 20 percent. Department of Animal Science Associate Processor Dr. Jim House says researchers got some striking results when this particular lot of barley was fed to pigs. "In the hulled form, the pigs had complete feed refusal. They would not consume the diets so we were actually unable to determine a digestible energy value for the grain that was in its hulled form. As soon as we removed the hulls, though, the pigs consumed it readily and that's when we observed the improvements in the digestible energy. We then took that on into a second study in which we fed the pearled grains to baby pigs in a starter trial. We saw that the diets formulated with the pearled barley, the dehulled barley, piglets performed as well if not better than rations that were formulated to the same nutrient profile but based on corn as the primary ingredient. We actually have a product which is higher in digestible energy, is consumed readily by both baby pigs and heavier pigs and has a higher digestible energy fraction. " Researchers are now in the process of evaluating the economics of the procedure. Dr. House says variables that need to be considered include the cost of the contaminated grain and whether the improved nutritional value will offset the cost of pearling. He says, if a value added use can be developed for the hulled fraction, it might also impact the economics of the process.