Variability of amino acid digestibility in different field bean cultivars for broilers

1. The amino acid composition of 10 different UK-grown field bean cultivar samples from the same harvest year were determined.2. Diets included each bean sample at a level of 200 g/kg feed compared against a control diet formulated with only soyabean sources, whereby the beans replaced the soyabean meal, and were used to compare ileal amino acid digestibility. The amino acid digestibility coefficients for the bean samples were obtained via substitution method.3. The data showed that one field bean sample, cultivar Sultan, had a lower amino acid digestibility (P < 0.05) than that of the other nine . This sample had a higher tannin content that may have affected amino acid digestibility.