Nutritional value of faba beans ( Vicia faba L.) fed to young pigs

Abstract

The nutritional value of four varieties of faba beans (Vicia faba L.) originating from Poland (var. Kamir and Martin) and the Netherlands (var. Toret and Pistache) was evaluated on young pigs (20-35 kg) in two experiments. The condensed tannin content in the beans was from <0.1 % (white-flowered var. Toret) to 0.55% (coloured-flowered var. Martin). In the ileal digestibility experiment (PVTC-cannula) the experimental diets consisted of 70% basal diet and 30% faba beans (FB). In the N balance/growth performance experiment the diets contained 50% of crude protein (CP) from FB and 50% from the basal diet. The apparent ileal CP digestibility of FB decreased from 74.3 to 68.8% with an increase of tannin content. The ileal amino acids (AA) digestibility of var. Toret was higher as compared to that of var. Martin. The apparent faecal digestibility of CP depended on the tannin content in FB (R 2 = 0.70, P ^ 0.01). The N retention and body weight gain (BWG) of pigs fed the Toret diet were higher (P^O.01) as compared to those fed the Martin diet. It was concluded that the low content of condensed tannins in FB (< 0.1 %) had a positive effect on ileal digestibility of CP and AA and on growth rate of young pigs.