title: Histidine requirement of the young pig.
abstract: A histidine (HIS)-deficient, feather meal-corn-dried whey basal diet (19% protein and 3,200 Kcal ME/kg), supplemented with lysine, methionine and tryptophan, was employed to determine the HIS requirement of the growing pig between 10 and 20 kg live weight. Using a chick bioavailability growth assay, the HIS-deficient basal diet was found to contain .19% bioavailable HIS. A preliminary pig study established that the HIS-deficient basal diet was capable of supporting good growth of pigs when supplemented with sufficient L-HIS.HCl.H2O. In the second pig experiment, crossbred pigs with an average initial weight of 10 kg were kept in individual metabolism crates and were fed to appetite in two feedings the HIS-deficient basal diet supplemented with 0, .06, .12 or .18% L-HIS. Rate and efficiency of weight gain increased linearly between 0 and .12% supplemental HIS, but the highest supplemental level of HIS did not improve performance further. Plasma HIS increased, whereas plasma urea-N remained unchanged, as the level of dietary HIS increased. The third pig experiment employed narrower increments of .06, .09 or .12% supplemental HIS, and a linear response in both gain and feed efficiency occurred. Viewing all experiments together, the bioavailable HIS requirement of the 10- to 20-kg pig was .31% of the diet. Assuming an 85% bioavailability of HIS in commercial diets based on corn and soybean meal, the total HIS level needed in practice would be .36%.
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois, Urbana 61801.
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Izquierdo
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Wedekind
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006639:Histidine / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D013552:Swine / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006639:Histidine