THE DIGESTIBLE ENERGY VALUE OF CANOLA OIL FOR GROWING PIGS AS MEASURED BY LEVEL OF INCLUSION

Four levels (20, 40, 60, and 80 g kg(-1)) of canola oil were included in a cereal-based diet to determine the digestible energy of each diet . The diets were formulated to a constant protein to energy ratio. A m etabolism experiment (Experiment 1) based on a repeated 4 X 4 Latin sq uare using eight (Yorkshire X Landrace) pigs of initial weight 18 kg, and a growth trial (Experiment 2) in which 40 (Yorkshire X Landrace) 7 kg pigs, weaned at approximately 28 days, assigned to one of the four dietary treatments, with equal numbers of the two sexes per treatment were conducted. With increasing dietary fat the apparent digestible e nergy of the diets increased linearly (P < 0.05 and P < 0.0001 for Exp eriments 1 and 2, respectively). Linear equations derived from regress ion analysis were used to calculate the apparent digestible energy val ue of canola oil (7.95 and 8.52 Mcal kg(-1) for Experiments 1 and 2, r espectively). The level of inclusion from 20 to 80 g kg(-1) did not in fluence the digestible energy value. In Experiment 2, the average dail y gain, feed intake, feed to gain and energy to gain did not differ wi th diet. Therefore, it can be concluded that the apparent digestible e nergy for canola oil for growing pigs of 20-30 kg, when given at an in clusion rate of between 20 and 80 g kg(-1), is between 8.0 and 8.5 Mca l kg(-1). This is higher than published digestible energy values for v egetable oils. Thus, canola oil is a good source of digestible energy for use in growing pig diets.