THE NUTRITIVE-VALUE OF LUCERNE LEAF MEAL FOR PIGS BASED ON DIGESTIBILITY AND NITROGEN-UTILIZATION

Digestibility, energy metabolism and nitrogen utilization of a barley- based diet with increasing inclusion of lucerne leaf meal (LLM; 0, 5, 10 and 20%) were studied in a change-over experiment with growing pigs . In addition, digestibility and nitrogen utilization of the diets wer e evaluated with rats. The apparent digestibility of fibre increased w ith LLM inclusion, whereas the digestibility of organic matter, crude protein, fat and energy all decreased significantly. There was a signi ficant reduction in the dietary content of digestible and metabolizabl e energy with increasing inclusion of LLM in the diet. Nitrogen retent ion and utilization were significantly increased with an increasing in clusion of LLM.