Development of In vitro Technique for Bioavailable Corn Energy Value

The objective of this study was to develop an in vitro digestion technique to estimate bioavailable energy values of different corn hybrids in swine and poultry. A total of 21 samples were investigated; 18 normal corn (NC) and 3 high-oil corn (HOC) hybrids. One step-two enzymes digestion system was introduced to develop the in vitro technique. The gross energy (GE) values of NC hybrids were correlated with the in vitro disappearing energy values (IVE; r=0.85, p<0.01), the in vitro energy digestibilities (IVED; r=0.70, p<0.01), and the in vitro DM digestibilities (IVDM; r=0.55, p<0.05). It appears, however, that IVE values of NC and HOC hybrids were not significantly different according to the one step-two enzyme digestion system. Results of in vivo and in vitro estimates suggested that there was no significant correlation between them in poultry. The IVE value was regressed linearly with ME and DE values in swine with low regression coefficient (34 and 41%, respectively).