Portal Absorption of Feed Oligo-peptides in Chickens

The effect of duodenal infusion with feed oligo-peptide solution on portal absorption of amino acids was investigated in poultry under unanaesthetized conditions. Four peptide solutions were used in the experiment: enzymatic hydrolysates from fish meal, soybean meal, cottonseed meal and rapeseed meal proteins with average molecular weights less than 3,000 Da and 1,000 Da, respectively. Intestinal absorptions of these oligo-peptide solutions were compared by determining the concentration of free amino acid (FAA) in portal blood after the duodenal administrations of oligo-peptide solutions. Absorptive intensity and balance were used to estimate the intestinal absorption rate of amino acids. The absorptive intensities of amino acids were highest for the fish and soybean meal oligo-peptides. The ratios of amino acids absorbed in the portal blood from fish and soybean meal oligo-peptides were more similar to the composition of the infused amino acids than that observed from the cottonseed and rapeseed meal oligo-peptides. A positive correlation was found between absorption rate and proportion of PAA in the oligo-peptides. The higher absorption rate could be contributed to the higher proportion of peptide bound amino acids (PAA). The results suggest that fish and soybean meal protein are significantly more easily hydrolyzed into oligo-peptides (p<0.05) in the gastrointestinal tracts of poultry and as such can be utilized more effectively by body tissues.