Predicting feed digestibility from NIRS analysis of pig faeces

Area of Science:

• Animal Nutrition
• Spectroscopy
• Feed Evaluation

Background:

• Digestibility is crucial for feed evaluation but animal trials are resource-intensive.
• Large-scale digestibility assessments, such as in genetic studies, are often impractical.
• Predicting digestibility from non-invasive measurements is highly desirable.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the feasibility of predicting fecal digestibility using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS).
• To assess NIRS accuracy for various digestibility parameters in pigs.
• To evaluate NIRS as a tool for large-scale digestibility studies.

Main Methods:

• 196 fecal samples from Large White pigs with varying age and genetic backgrounds were analyzed.
• Fecal samples were analyzed for dry matter, organic matter, nitrogen, and energy digestibility.
• Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to measure reflectance spectra of freeze-dried, ground fecal samples.

Main Results:

• NIRS successfully predicted total N, dry matter digestibility (dDM), organic matter digestibility (dOM), nitrogen digestibility (dN), energy digestibility (dE), and apparent digestible energy content (ADE).
• Acceptable calibration and validation errors were achieved for all parameters, indicating good accuracy.
• NIRS demonstrated the ability to account for digestibility variations attributed to animal factors like age and genetics.

Conclusions:

• NIRS is a promising tool for accurately predicting feed digestibility in large-scale animal studies.
• The method can reduce the need for extensive and costly animal trials.
• NIRS holds potential for evaluating the digestibility of various feeds after appropriate calibration.