True total-tract digestibility of phosphorus in corn and soybean meal for fifteen-kilogram pigs are additive in corn-soybean meal diet

The objective of this study was to verify the additivity of true total-tract P digestibility (TPD) in corn and soybean meal (SBM) for15-kg pigs. Fifty-four barrows with an average initial BW of 14.7 +/- 1.6 kg were used in a randomized complete block design with a 3 x 2 factorial arrangement of 6 diets. Three P sources included corn, SBM, and their mixture at a ratio of 2:1. Each P source was provided at low or high level. The diets were fed for a 5-d adjustment period followed by a total collection period of 7 d with ferric oxide as a marker to determine the initiation and termination of fecal collection. The results showed the high P level of each P source increased (P < 0.001) P intake, fecal P output, and digested P compared with the low P level. The respective apparent total-tract digestibility of P were 35.66 and 40.57% for low and high P levels in corn, 35.72 and 38.04% for low and high P levels in SBM, and 41.85 and 38.53% for low and high P levels in the corn-soybean meal mixture without significant difference between P levels within P sources. Regressing daily digested P against daily P intake, the TPD was estimated at 40.53, 35.96, and 37.52% for corn, SBM, and their mixture, respectively. The expected TPD in corn and SBM mixture was calculated to be 37.92% based upon the P contribution coefficient calculated to be 0.428 for corn and 0.572 for SBM. The determined TPD (37.52%) in the mixture was not statistically different from the expected (37.92%). In conclusion, the TPD in corn and SBM are additive in corn-soybean meal diet for pigs.