Influence of naked barley cultivar with normal, amylose-rich or amylopectin-rich starch and enzyme supplementation on digestibility and piglet performance

Nutrient utilization and performance were studied in two experiments with weaning piglets fed diets based on naked barley cultivars with normal, amylose-rich and amylopectin-rich starch (ST), with or without supplementation of an enzyme preparation with glucanase, and xylanase activity. The coefficient of apparent digestibility (CAD) of components in all diets gradually increased from the small intestine to the rectum, although the extent of digestion in the small intestine and caecum was different for the barley cultivars. The diet based on naked normal barley showed a lower CAD (P 0.05) between diets based the different barley cultivars. Enzyme supplementation of the diets improved the CTTAD of CP (P 0.05) on the performance. In conclusion, the starch composition of barley appears to have a limited effect on its utilization in piglets. However, the impaired digestibility of the naked normal barley cultivar indicates that there are properties in the hulless grain that imposes limitation to its utilization and which could not be alleviated by enzyme supplementation. Overall, the present results support the contention that the potential for improvement of piglet growth performance by supplementing barley-based diets with cell wall degrading enzymes is limited. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.