Animal nutritionists have incessantly worked towards providing livestock with high-quality plant protein feed resources. Soybean meal (SBM) has been an essential and predominantly adopted vegetable protein source in livestock feeding for a long time; however, several SBM antinutrients could potentially impair the animal’s performance and growth, limiting its use. Several processing methods have been employed to remove SBM antinutrients, including fermentation with fungal or bacterial microorganisms. According to the literature, fermentation, a traditional food processing method, could improve SBM’s nutritional and functional properties, making it more suitable and beneficial to livestock. The current interest in health-promoting functional feed, which can enhance the growth of animals, improve their immune system, and promote physiological benefits more than conventional feed, coupled with the ban on the use of antimicrobial growth promoters, has caused a renewed interest in the use of fermented SBM (FSBM) in livestock diets. This review details the mechanism of SBM fermentation and its impacts on animal health and discusses the recent trend in the application and emerging advantages to livestock while shedding light on the research gap that needs to be critically addressed in future studies. FSBM appears to be a multifunctional high-quality plant protein source for animals. Besides removing soybean antinutrients, beneficial bioactive peptides and digestive enzymes are produced during fermentation, providing probiotics, antioxidants, and immunomodulatory effects.
Article Quarter: FY24 Q2
Production effects of extruded soybean meal replacing canola meal in the diet of lactating dairy cows
This study investigated the effects of extruded soybean meal (ESBM) in comparison with canola meal (CM) fed on an equivalent crude protein (CP) basis on lactational performance and ruminal fermentation of dairy cows. Following a 2-wk covariate period, 48 Holstein cows averaging (±SD): 146 ± 46 d in milk (DIM) and 43 ± 7 kg/d milk yield (MY) were assigned 1 of 2 treatment diets in a randomized complete block design experiment, which included a 2-wk period for dietary treatment adaptation before experimental data were collected. Following the adaptation period, samples and experimental data were collected for a total of 7 wk. Cows were blocked based on parity, DIM, and MY. Treatment diets contained 15.8% CM (containing 41.2% CP) or 13.2% ESBM (with 48.7% CP) of total mixed ration dry matter (DM), with similar inclusion of other feed ingredients. The CM diet was supplemented with canola oil, whereas the ESBM diet was supplemented with soybean hulls to achieve similar ether extract and neutral detergent fiber contents between the diets. Urea and rumen-protected Met and Lys were added to both diets to meet or exceed cow recommendations. Whole-ruminal digesta samples were collected from 10 (5 per treatment) ruminally cannulated cows. Eight cannulated cows were removed during the last week of the experiment to participate in another study. Treatment did not affect DM intake and MY or energy-corrected MY of the cows. Energy-corrected MY, apart from experimental wk 5, was similar between treatments. Apart from experimental wk 3 and 7, milk fat concentration and yield were greater for cows fed ESBM compared with CM. In multiparous cows only, milk true protein yield was greater for cows fed CM compared with ESBM. Ruminal concentration of total volatile fatty acids and the molar proportion of acetate were greater for ESBM, and propionate and valerate were greater in cows fed CM. Acetate to propionate ratio was greater for cows fed ESBM versus CM diet. Compared with the CM diet, the ESBM diet increased plasma concentrations of Ile, Leu, and Phe but not the sum of essential AA. Apparent total-tract digestibility of acid detergent fiber was greater in cows fed ESBM relative to CM.
Overall evaluation of the replacement of fermented soybean to fish meal in juvenile white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei diet: growth, health status, and hepatopancreas histomorphology
This study was conducted to determine the effect of replacing fishmeal (FM) with fermented soybean meal (FSBM) for 12 weeks on the growth performance, feed utilization, immunological parameters, antioxidant enzyme assays and lipid peroxidation, digestive enzymes, and histopathological analysis of juvenile Litopenaeus vannamei (L. vannamei). By substituting 0.0%, 20%, 30%, and 40% FSBM for fishmeal (w/w), four isonitrogenous diets were generated. A total of 300 juvenile L. vannamei (1.59 ± 0.01 g) were randomly allocated to the experimental fiber tanks at a rate of fifteen shrimp per tank, with three replicates for each treatment. Growth performance and feed utilization decline considerably (P < 0.05) with increasing amounts of FM replacement with FSBM in diets. In comparison to the juveniles fed the other experimental diets, the diet containing a moderate level of FM replacement (20% FSBM) considerably enhanced growth performance and feed consumption during the feeding trial. The 20% FSBM-fed group had the highest protein content. In contrast, raising FSBM levels significantly increased lipid content (P < 0.05) compared to the control. However, there were no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05) across FSBM treatments. Hemolymph plasma total protein (TP) concentration and lysozyme activity were substantially greater (P < 0.05) in 20% FSBM compared to 40% FSBM (P < 0.05). In addition, 20% FSBM exhibits a substantial (P < 0.05) increase in the activity of antioxidant enzymes (CAT SOD, GPX, and GR). In contrast, the control and 30% FSBM groups had considerably more lipid peroxidation markers (MDA) than the 20% and 40% FSBM groups. Hepatopancreas amylase activity was considerably elevated (P < 0.05) in the control group and with 40% FSBM. In addition, hepatopancreas and intestinal protease and lipase activity increased significantly by 20% FSBM. Considerably, more B cells were present in the 40% FSBM diet than in the control diet; however, they were significantly less prevalent in the 20% and 30% FSBM diets (P < 0.05).
Eat like a Pig to Combat Obesity
Obesity and related metabolic health issues are a growing human threat, with many theories regarding its causes. In swine, physiologically alike to humans, considerable knowledge on obesity mechanisms has been accumulated. Calorie counting is the basis for managing swine diets and applied with great accuracy. Epigenetic programing predisposes pigs to insulin insensitivity, but pigs seem to sense this insensitivity and consequently eat less, preventing obesity. Pigs naturally prefer to eat small breakfasts and large dinners. Deviating from this eating pattern or providing diets with a high glycemic burden can trigger obesity; however, pigs will restrict food intake to prevent serious obesity. Interestingly, in practice, problems with obesity are rarely seen, even when pigs are fed poorly timed diets similar to junk food, likely because swine diets are balanced for every nutrient. Indeed, feeding pigs diets deficient in micronutrients does trigger obesity. For humans, several micronutrient requirements have not been set officially, and diets optimized for all micronutrients are rarely provided.
Advantages of Higher Soybean Meal Diets for Pigs
Crystalline amino acids (AA) are widely used in diets for pigs to either lower the concentration of soybean meal (SBM) in the diets or to balance the AA profile of alternative protein sources including high protein corn protein. However, results of recent experiments demonstrated that even when diets are balanced for all indispensable AA, the excess levels of Leu in corn protein results in reduced growth performance of pigs. This is likely due to interactions between Leu and Val, Ile, and Trp and it is, therefore, possible to partly restore the lost performance obtained for diets with corn protein if extra Val, Ile, and Trp is included. However, it appears that pigs fed diets based on corn and SBM have better growth performance than those fed corn protein and crystalline AA. It has also not been possible to demonstrate that low crude protein diets that contain crystalline AA instead of some SBM have greater net energy than diets based only on corn and SBM. It therefore appears that SBM may provide benefits to pigs in addition to the AA that are provided from SBM.
Effects of high inclusion of soybean hulls on apparent total tract macronutrient digestibility, fecal quality, and fecal fermentative end-product concentrations in extruded diets of adult dogs
Soybean hulls (SBH) are a fiber-rich co-product of the soybean oil extraction process that corresponds to 8% of the soybean seed. Despite being readily available and priced competitively, SBH are underutilized in monogastric nutrition. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate SBH as a dietary fiber in canine diets. Four diets were formulated with either SBH, beet pulp (BP), or cellulose (CL) as the main source of dietary fiber (15% total dietary fiber [TDF]), with the control diet formulated with no supplemental fiber (NF). Animal procedures were approved by the University of Illinois Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Eight adult female Beagle (mean age = 4.6 ± 0.6 yr; mean BW = 12.8 ± 1.7 kg) were used in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square design. Each period consisted of 14 d, with 10 d of diet adaptation followed by 4 d of total fecal and urine collections. At the end of each period, a blood sample was collected and analyzed for serum chemistry. Food was offered twice daily and fed to maintain body weight. Food intake (g/d) on a dry matter basis (DMB) did not differ among treatments. Fecal score was lower (P < 0.05) for dogs fed CL (2.0) in contrast with other dietary treatments (2.3), using a 5-point scale (1 = hard, dry pellets; 5 = diarrhea). Fecal as-is and DM output did not differ for dogs fed BP, CL, or SBH, and were approximately 50% greater (P < 0.05) than dogs fed NF. Apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter, organic matter, and gross energy were greater (P < 0.05) for dogs fed NF when compared with dogs fed BP, CL, or SBH. Dogs fed CL had greater (P < 0.05) AHF ATTD (94%) compared with all other treatments (mean = 91%). Dogs fed CL and NF had greater (P < 0.05) CP ATTD, 87% and 86%, respectively, while dogs fed SBH were inter- mediate (83%) and dogs fed BP were lowest (79%). Total short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentration was greatest in dogs fed BP (582.5 μmol/g) and SBH (479.7 μmol/g) when compared with NF and CL (267.0 and 251.1 μmol/g, respectively). Serum metabolites were within-reference ranges and dogs remained healthy throughout the study.
Effects of increasing soybean meal in corn-based diets on the growth performance of late finishing pigs
Three experiments were conducted to determine the effects of increasing soybean meal (SBM) levels by replacing feed-grade amino acids (AA) in corn, corn dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), and corn-wheat midds-based diets on growth performance of late finishing pigs (n = 4,406) raised in commercial facilities. Across all experiments, pens of pigs were blocked by initial bodyweight (BW) and randomly assigned to 1 of 5 dietary treatments. All diets were formulated to contain 0.70% standardized ileal digestible (SID) Lys and varying amounts of feed- grade AA. All diets were formulated to meet or exceed minimum essential AA requirement estimates as a ratio to Lys. In Exp. 1, 1,793 pigs (initially 104.9 ± 4.9 kg) were fed corn-based diets and pens of pigs were assigned treatments with increasing SBM from 5% to 20%. Overall, average daily gain (ADG) and feed efficiency (G:F) improved (linear and cubic, P ≤ 0.02) as dietary SBM increased, with the greatest improvement observed as SBM increased from 5% to 8.75% and little improvement thereafter. In Exp. 2, 1,827 pigs (initially 97.9 ± 4.3 kg) were fed diets containing 25% DDGS with SBM levels increasing from 0% to 16%. Overall, feed efficiency marginally improved (linear, P ≤ 0.10) as SBM increased, with the greatest performance observed when diets contained 8% SBM and similar performance thereafter with 12 or 16% dietary SBM. In Exp. 3, 786 pigs (initially 96.7 ± 3.2 kg) were fed diets that contained 30% wheat midds and dietary SBM from 0% to 16%. Final BW of pigs increased (linear, P < 0.05) and overall ADG and G:F improved (linear and cubic, P < 0.05) as SBM increased.
Extruded feline diets formulated with high inclusion of soybean hulls: effects on apparent total tract macronutrient digestibility, and fecal quality and metabolites
Dietary fibers have gained renewed interest in companion animal nutrition as a means to manage pet obesity and improve gut and host health. Soybean hulls (SBH), a co-product of the soybean oil extraction process, is an accessible and economical fiber source. However, limited research is available on the use of SBH in feline nutrition. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the effects of a high SBH inclusion level on daily food intake, apparent total tract (ATT) macronutrient digestibility, fecal quality, and fecal fermentative end products in diets of adult cats. Four diets were formulated with either SBH, beet pulp (BP), or cellulose (CL) as the main source of dietary fiber, with the control diet formulated with no added fiber (NF). The fiber treatments were formulated to achieve approximately 15% total dietary fiber (TDF). Eight adult male cats (mean age = 10.5 yr ± 0.1; mean. BW=6.1±0.8kg) were used in a replicated 4× 4 Latin square design. Each period consisted of 14 d, with 10 d of diet adaptation followed by 4 d of total fecal and urine collections. Food was offered twice daily and cats were fed to maintain BW. Food intake on a DM basis (DMB) was lower (P < 0.05) in cats fed BP (55.2 g/d) when compared with SBH (70.8 g/d). As-is fecal output did not differ in cats fed BP or SBH, and when expressed on a DMB, fecal output did not differ among fiber treatments. The ATT digestibility of DM, OM, and GE was greater (P < 0.05) in cats fed NF when compared with those fed BP, CL, or SBH. Cats fed CL had the greatest (P < 0.05) ATT CP digestibility (88.5%), followed by cats fed NF (84.9) and SBH (81.7%) with the lowest values (77%) noted for cats fed BP. Acid-hydrolyzed fat (AHF) digestibility was greater for cats fed CL (92.9%) than for cats fed BP (86.9%) and SBH (88.6%). The TDF ATT digestibility was lowest for cats fed NF and CL (8.5% and 15.1%, respectively), followed by SBH (18.0%), with BP having the highest digestibility (33.7%). Total short-chain fatty acid concentration was greatest (P < 0.05) in cats fed BP (699.7 μmole/g) when compared with the other 3 treatments, whereas phenol and indole concentrations did not differ among treatments.
Evaluation of extruded soybean hulls for relative metabolizable energy values and as a source of fiber in monogastric nutrition
The aims of this experiment were to determine the energy value of raw soybean hulls, in comparison to the energy values of soybean hulls post-extrusion. The roosters were precision-fed up 25 g of either raw or extruded soy hulls, then placed into individual cages with a collection tray underneath to catch excreta. After 48 h, the excreta was collected and analyzed for N, gross energy, dry matter and organic matter. The results of the rooster assay did not differ (P > 0.05) between the raw and extruded soybeans. However, the TMEn (kcal/g) were numerically smaller for the conventional roosters compared to the cecectomized. This indicates that there was very little fermentation of the soybean hulls in the ceca of the roosters. In addition to the rooster assay, a chick growth assay was conducted using Ross 308 male broiler chicks. The study lasted 14 d. Seven- day old chicks (BW: 87.0 ± SEM g). The experimental diets consisted of 7.5% and 15% inclusion of both raw and extruded soybean hulls, respectfully, added at the expense of cellulose. The chicks’ BW, feed intake, and G:F ratio were all calculated throughout the study. The results of the chick assay were more striking than that of the rooster assay. Chicks fed the 15% extruded soybean hulls diet had similar performance (P > 0.05) to the positive control; a traditional soybean meal and corn diet. In conclusion, the chick growth assay, used in combination with the precision-fed rooster assay, were able to detect differences between raw and extruded soybean hulls.
