ISSUE FOCUS 54 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE November 2023 Knowing the protein kinetics of each protein source will allow nutritionists to formulate diets with a higher protein biological value, optimizing animal performance and therefore feed cost, and reducing nitrogen excretion into the environment. Hamlet Protein has been conducting research during the last 2 years and discovered there are large differences in protein kinetics between protein sources. A NEW DIMENSION IN PROTEIN SOURCE EVALUATION Jessika van Leeuwen, PhD MSc Global Category Manager Swine Hamlet Protein We always knew that improving protein digestibility through the reduction of antinutritional factors as achieved by Hamlet Protein is crucial, but we also had the feeling there was more to our products than that. Investigating how the protein kinetics of our products compare to other protein sources showed us what that difference was. The results of this research have been published recently at the ASAS-CSAS-WSASAS meeting in the USA (Bible et al., 2023). WHAT IS PROTEIN KINETICS? The science of digestion kinetics describes the process of hydrolysis and absorption of nutrients in the intestines. Thus, protein kinetics means the dynamics of protein hydrolysis and absorption in the small intestine. In other words, how fast and where in the digestive tract dietary protein is digested, absorbed and released into the blood stream. Both the speed and the location of absorption influence what the amino acids will be used for subsequently. Traditionally, a protein ingredient is evaluated based upon its protein content (CP) and ileal digestibility coefficient of the amino acids it contains. However, the digestibility coefficient only considers how much protein is left at the end of the small intestine and does not say anything about digestion and absorption speed -and location. Two protein sources can have similar ileal digestibility coefficients but may differ largely in the speed -and site of digestion and absorption (Table 1). Consider for instance blood meal and SBM HP which both show similar digestibility coefficients at the end of the small intestine (after which is assumed no enzymatic protein digestion occurs anymore). For blood meal, however, a lot more protein is hydrolyzed already in the first part of the small intestine (proximal jejunum) while for SBM HP more is hydrolyzed in more distal parts of the small intestine, which means that the protein digestion is faster for blood meal than for SBM HP in this study. Protein kinetics is a more accurate description of what actually happens with the protein inside the animal than digestibility alone. As protein kinetics considers not only that a protein is digested but also where it is digested, and the resulting amino acids are absorbed.
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