Amino acid digestibility of rice at different sites of chicken intestines

Abstract

Global demand of corns for feed and fuel will be increasing at a rapid pace in the near future. Rice is one of the candidate cereals as a substitute of corn. However, the amino acid digestibility of rice in the gastrointestinal tract in chickens has not yet been investigated. The present study was conducted to investigate the amino acid digestibility of hulled rice using fistulized chickens. Chickens were fistulized to either the distal end of the jejunum, the middle part of the ileum, the distal end of the ileum or the distal end of the rectum. Intestinal digesta were collected from each site of the intestines, and the contents of amino acids were measured. Chickens were fed a rice diet, a rice-fish meal diet or a corn-based diet. There was no significant difference in the true digestibilities of all measured amino acids between the sites of chicken intestines. However, the true digestibilities of all measured amino acids without arginine of the rice diet were significantly higher than those of the corn-based diet. The true digestibilities of all measured amino acids without tyrosine of the rice-fish meal diet were significantly higher than those of the corn-based diet. These results suggest that rice might be used as a substitute of corn in chicken feed. © 2011, Japan Poultry Science Association.