Digestion Rates of Starch but not Protein Vary in Common Cereal Grains Used in Broiler Diets
Published:February 25, 2021
Summary
Both glucose and amino acids are essential for muscle protein deposition and feed conversion efficiency. Total tract nitrogen retention was reported to be influenced by protein and starch digestion in broiler chickens (Liu et al., 2013). Embracing the concept of digestive dynamics and applying it in practical diet formulation requires understanding of the variations of protein and starch digestio...
Dr. Sonia Yun Liu, the variation in starch digestibility among the evaluated cereals could be partly justified based on the variation of the size, location and composition of the starch granule, as for the amylose and amylopectin fractions. The higher the proportion of amylose, the linear fraction, the lower the digestibility of starch. As for the digestibility of the protein, which I think is negatively influenced by the concentration of the non-starch polysaccharide, mainly the soluble (NSPs), what would be the possible justification for the result achieved, if the NSPs concentration varies significantly between the studied cereals? I hope that the considerations made are pertinent to the work. Thanks.
In unpublished work, Rebecca Abbot has shown that in carefully controlled feeding studies with wheat, substantial variation in starch digestibility occurs due to variable levels of hindgut ferementation, with energy recovery after reverse peristalsis to the terminal ileum. Social status also conditions starch utilisation, with dominant bird overeating and wasting energy in an attempt to sequester resources, preventing their use in lower status birds.