Starch but not protein digestibility is altered in pigs fed transgenic peas containing α-amylase inhibitor

Abstract

Eighteen individually housed boars were randomly allocated to one of three dietary treatments, an experimental wheat diet containing 989.4 g kg -1 of a basal wheat diet, or this experimental wheat diet with 500 g kg-1 of the basal wheat diet replaced with 500 g kg-1 of either transgenic or non-transgenic peas. The transgenic peas expressed the bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) α-amylase inhibitor 1 gene. Diets contained n-hexatriacontane (0.2 g kg-1) as an indigestible marker to allow the determination of nutrient digestibility at the terminal ileum. Pigs were offered 1.6 kg day-1 for 15 days, after which they were anaesthetised, the ileal and faecal digesta collected and the pigs subsequently eu..