Phosphorus digestibility and energy concentration of enzyme-treated and conventional soybean meal fed to weanling pigs1

Two experiments were conducted to determine the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of P and the concentration of DE and ME in enzyme-treated soybean meal (SBM) and in conventional soybean meal (SBM-CV). Phosphorus digestibility in 2 enzyme-treated SBM (HP-310 and HP-340) and in SBM-CV was measured using 36 barrows (initial BW: 21.9 ± 1.1 kg) that were housed in metabolism cages and randomly allotted to 6 diets with 6 replicates per diet. During production, HP-310 had been treated with an enzyme mixture containing no phytase, whereas HP-340 was treated with an enzyme mixture that contained exogenous phytase. Three diets containing HP-310, HP-340, or SBM-CV as the sole source of P were formulated. Three additional diets also contained HP-310, HP-340, and SBM-CV, but each of these diets was fortified with 500 units of microbial phytase. The ATTD of P in HP-310 and SBM-CV increased (P 0.05; 83.8 and 87.7%, respectively). There were no differences (P > 0.05) in the ATTD of P between HP-310 and SBM-CV, but the ATTD of P in HP-340 was greater (P 0.05), but they were greater (P 0.05). It is concluded that enzyme treatment of SBM does not influence the digestibility of P or the concentration of DE and ME in the meals.