The effects of dietary fiber level on nutrient digestibility in growing pigs

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of total dietary fiber level on nutrient digestibility and the relationship between apparent total tract digestibility of total dietary fiber, and soluble dietary fiber, insoluble dietary fiber and available energy. Sugar beet pulp was as the only fiber source. The experiment was designed as a 6 × 6 Latin square with an adaptation period of 7 d followed by a 5-d total collection of feces and urine. Feed intake tended to decrease (P =0.10) as total dietary fiber level increased. The apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter, crude protein and gross energy decreased (P <0.01) when total dietary fiber increased but the digestibility of soluble dietary fiber and insoluble dietary fiber increased (P <0.01). The digestible energy and metabolizable energy content of diets decreased (P <0.01) as the total dietary fiber increased. © 2013 Zhang et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.