Diammonium Citrate and Diammonium Phosphate as Sources of Dietary Nitrogen for Growing-Finishing Swine

Many scientists are concerned about the possibility Of a protein shortage in the near future. Since the pig will be placed in direct competition with man for many of the proteins presently used in feeds, it has become increasingly important to determine if other sources of nitrogen can serve as a replacement for some of the non-essential amino acid nitrogen in natural proteins. The exact relationship between "non-essential" and "essential" amino acid nitrogen of a given diet is not fully understood. I t is assumed that if the diet does not supply anadequate quantity of nitrogen for the "non-essential" amino acids, they must be synthesized from nitrogen supplied by the "essential" amino acids that are present. Thus, provisions in the diet for adequate quantities of non-protein nitrogen (NPN) for "non-essential" amino acid synthesis should allow the use of minimal quantities of the "essential" amino acids in diet formulation.