A vailability to pigs of amino acids in cereal grains

Endogenous levels of amino acids in ileal digesta were determined as the output from pigs given protein-free diets and by extrapolation to zero intake of linear regressions of ileal amino acid output v. dietary amino acid intake. The protein-free diets included 0 or 50 g cellulose/kg and extrapolations were made from two series of four diets which contained graded levels of wheat or barley as the only source of protein. Within each series, dietary fibre level (mg/g) was maintained at approximately 140 or 190 neutral-detergent fibre (NDF) respectively. Endogenous amino acid levels in faeces were also determined. 2. Endogenous amino acid output in faeces was linearly related to dietary fibre level; endogenous ileal output increased with dietary fibre up to approximately 100 mg NDF/g, after which endogenous output no longer increased. 3. The amino acid composition of endogenous ileal protein varied little among levels of output and among different experiments. The composition appears to be determined by the predominance of mucin protein, the slow absorption of some acids and the methods commonly used to measure output. The very high levels of proline and glycine in ileal digesta seemed characteristic only of protein-free and low-protein diets. 4. The amino acid composition of endogenous faecal protein also varied little among different estimates, but was considerably different from that of endogenous ileal protein. Furthermore, the similarity of bacterial and faecal proteins suggested that much of the endogenous faecal protein was of bacterial origin.