Lupins (L. luteus, L. albus, L. angustifolius) as a protein source for young pigs

The nitrogen balance and growth performance of piglets (12–14 kg initial body weight) were measured to evaluate the nutritive value of meal from Lupinus luteus cultivars ‘Amulet’ and ‘Cybis’, Lupinus albus cultivar ‘Hetman’, Lupinus angustifolius cultivar ‘Saturn’ and a commercial batch of lupin seeds from Australia (ALS). The inclusion level of lupin seed meal in the barley-based diets ranged from 310 to 410 g kg−1 to provide 120 g of crude protein from each lupin species per kilogram of diet. erage apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter (0.91) and crude protein (0.90) in L. luteus diets was as high as in the control (soybean) diet. The lowest (P < 0.05) digestibility of dry matter (0.86) and crude protein (0.83) was found for the diet containing seed meal from L. albus. ation of the apparently digested nitrogen (nitrogen retained as a proportion of nitrogen digested) was highest in the soybean group and both groups with L. angustifolius (‘Saturn’ and ALS) with values of 0.71, 0.72 and 0.71, respectively. Intermediate values were found for L. luteus (‘Amulet’, 0.68; ‘Cybis’, 0.68) and the lowest (0.55) for the L. albus group. owth performance of pigs given diets with seeds of L. luteus and L. angustifolius was not different from that of pigs given the soybean diet, but pigs given the L. albus diet had a higher (P < 0.05) feed conversion ratio. concluded that L. albus cultivar ‘Hetman’ was less suitable than other varieties as a source of supplementary protein for young growing pigs when included in the diet at the level of 37 g kg−1. Seeds of L. luteus cultivar ‘Cybis’ and both cultivars of L. angustifolius were used at levels of up to 41 g kg−1 in diets without depression of growth performance as compared with soybean diet.