Amino acid requirements of South African Mutton Merino Lambs 3. Duodenal and whole empty body essential amino acid profile

The duodenal and whole empty body essential amino acid (EAA) profile of Sou th African Mutton Merino lambs fed a standard growth diet was investigated. The data of 20 lambs were used. With the exception of phenylalanine, signi ficant (p < 0.05) differences between the EAA concentrations of the duodena l digesta and whole empty body occurred. From the chemical score, it was co ncluded that the duodenal digesta was first-limiting in histidine and secon d-limiting in methionine, followed by threonine and arginine for the whole empty body growth of South African Mutton Merino ram lambs fed a standard d iet high in rumen degradable protein. A calculated essential amino acid com position for the correction of imbalances in duodenal digesta was as follow s (%): 11.21 arginine; 14.53 histidine; 8.17 isoleucine; 9.97 leucine; 8.64 lysine; 13.87 methionine; 9.97 phenylalanine; 12.54 threonine and 11.11 va line.