Effects of Processing Methods and Variety of Rapeseed Meal on Ruminal and Post Ruminal Amino Acids Digestibility

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of processing method and rapeseed variety on ruminal and intestinal protein digestibility of rapeseed meal in steers. Intestinal amino acid digestibility was assessed with an in situ ruminal incubation and precision-fed rooster bioassay. In this experiment one traditional rapeseed meal sample (sample A, prepress extraction) and three double low rapeseed meal samples (sample B, prepress extraction, sample C, screw press and sample D, low temperature press) were placed in polyester bags(8 cm${\times}$12 cm) and suspended in the ventral rumen of steers for 16 h. The residues of in situ incubations were intubated to roosters. Total excreta were collected for 48 h after incubation and then desiccated and amino acid concentrations were determined. Results showed that in ruminal incubation the degradation rate of amino acid and crude protein was higher for traditional rapeseed meal sample A than for double low rapeseed meal sample B, but was much lower than for double low sample C and D. In the group of double low rapeseed meal samples, sample D processed by low temperature press had the highest degradation rate of amino acids in the rumen. For all amino acids, the digestibility of the residual protein as measured by the precision-fed rooster bioassay tended to be lower for sample B than for sample A, which had the same processing method with sample B, and in the group of double low rapeseed meals, sample B had similar digestibility of amino acid in residual protein to sample D and higher than that of sample C. However, although the total amino acid availability involving the digestibility of amino acids in the rumen and rooster bioassay of double low rapeseed meal sample D (low temperature press) was higher than those of the other three samples by 7 to 9 percent, there were no significant differences. Results indicated that processing method markedly affected ruminal and post ruminal amino acid digestibility of rapeseed meal when the temperature exceeded 110$^{\circ}C$. Rapeseed meal that had a high content of fiber was not suitable for dry heat treatment at higher temperatures or the amino acids digestibility in rumen and total availability of amino acids could be reduced. Results also suggested the variety of rapeseed meal had no significant effect on the digestibility and availability of amino acids.