Amino acid digestibility in camelina products fed to growing pigs

Camelina seed production has increased in North America because of demand for camelina oil for biofuel production. Camelina expellers (CE) is the co-product that remains after oil has been expelled, and CE usually contains approximately 35% crude protein (CP), 14% ether extract, 10% crude fiber, and 5% ash making it an attractive feedstuff for livestock. An experiment was conducted to determine the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of CP and amino acids (AA) in two sources of camelina seeds [CS-1 and CS-2; average: 39% acid hydrolyzed ether extract (AEE), 28% CP, 27% neutral detergent fiber (NDF), 12% acid detergent fiber (ADF), 4% ash] and in three sources of CE (CE-1, CE-2, and CE-3; average: 35% CP, 24% NDF, 15% AEE, 14% ADF, 6% ash) and to compare the SID of CP and AA in camelina products with the SID of CP and AA in solvent-extracted canola meal fed to pigs. Seven growing pigs (initial BW 43.5 kg) were randomly allotted to a 7×7 Latin square design with seven diets fed to individually housed pigs over seven periods. Six of the diets contained CS, CE, or canola meal as the sole source of CP and AA and a N-free diet was used to determine basal endogenous losses of CP and AA. The SID of CP in CS-1 and CE-2 was less (PB0.01) than the SID of CP in canola meal, but the SID of CP in CS-2, CE-1, and CE-3 was not different from the SID of CP in canola meal. The SID of Lys in CS-1 and CS-2 was less (P<0.01) than in canola meal, but the SID of Lys was not different among CE-1, CE-2, CE-3, and canola meal. Results from this experiment indicate that the SID of AA in CE is mostly comparable with that of canola meal, but the digestibility of CP and AA in the two camelina seeds was somewhat less than in CE and canola meal. Camelina expellers may, therefore, be included in diets fed to pigs.