Ileal digestibility of pea and faba bean carbohydrates in growing pigs

Abstract

The experiment was carried out on six pigs with an initial body weight of about 34 kg. The pigs were fitted with a simple T-shape cannula and fed on six semisynthetic diets containing sucrose and legume seed meal as the main components. Faba bean (cvs Kamir and Alen), white-flowered pea (cvs Kwestor and Sol) and coloured-flowered pea (cvs Fidelia and Vatra) seeds were the only source of polysaccharides and protein for the experimental animals. Ileal digestibility of pea starch ranged from 85 to 87% and was similar for all the tested cultivars. The starch digestibility of faba bean was 86% for cv Alen and 82% for cv Kamir. Digestibility of pea and faba bean protein varied from 70 to 74%, α-galactosides of faba beans were microbiologically hydrolyzed up to 83%, and those of pea seeds up to 93% in the small intestine. Digestibility of non-starch polysaccharides averaged 39% for faba beans and from 27 to 43% for the pea cultivars. No differences were found between the two types of pea, indicating that tannins of the coloured-flowered pea did not interfere with ileal digestion of major nutrients fed to pigs.