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http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/jpsa doi:+*.,+.+/jpsa.*+**./ Copyright ῌ ,*++, Japan Poultry Science Association. Hiroshi Kamisoyama, Kazuhisa Honda and Shin Hasegawa Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Kobe 0/1ῌ2/*+, Japan The present study was conducted to investigate the e#ects of dietary cereals such as corn, sorghum, wheat, hulled barley and naked barley on amino acid digestibility using fistulized chickens. Chickens were fistulized to either the distal end of the jejunum, the middle part of the ileum, the distal end of the ileum or the distal end of the rectum. The cereals were supplemented as the sole source of protein in each experimental diet. Intestinal digesta were collected from each site of the intestines, and the contents of amino acids were measured. There was no significant di#erence in the true digestibilities of all measured amino acids between the sites of chicken intestines. However, the true digestibilities of +- amino acids (Asp, Thr, Ser, Gly, Ala, Val, Met, Ile, Leu, Tyr, Phe, His and Arg) in the hulled barley group, +* amino acids (Asp, Thr, Ser, Gly, Ala, Val, Met, Ile, Leu and Tyr) in the naked barley group, nine amino acids (Asp, Thr, Gly, Ala, Met, Ile, Leu, Tyr and Arg) in the wheat group and five amino acids (Gly, Met, Lys, His and Arg) in the sorghum group were lower than those in the corn group. These results clearly demonstrate that corn shows the highest amino acid digestibility among cereals used in this study and that there is no significant e#ect of sampling site on the amino acid digestibility of the dietary cereals. Key words: amino acid digestibility, barley, corn, sorghum, wheat J. Poult. Sci., .2: +3ῌ,., ,*++ ῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍῍ Introduction Global demand of corns for feed and fuel will be increasing at a rapid pace in the near future. For example, meeting the expected demand for meat in emerging economies will require corn usage as a feed ingredient to increase by about -0 million tons to about /,2 million tones/year over the next decade (Edgerton, ,**3). During this same period, biofuel production, mainly from corn, is expected to grow by ,2 billion liters to 01 billion liters/year (Edgerton, ,**3). Thus, several researchers have investigated alternatives for corn in feeds for various livestock species (Nyannor et al., ,**1; Donkin et al., ,**3; Archimede ◊ et al., ,*+*). Since the protein requirement of chickens is a requirement for amino acids (NRC, +33.), primary interest has been placed on the amino acid composition of feed stu#s for feed formulation. However, more attention has recently been given to the determination of amino acid digestibility of feedstu#s because not all amino acid in feedstu#s are equally digested. In addition, amino acid digestibility has been recognized as a sensitive indicator of biological availability of protein (Han and Parsons, +33*; Received: June +., ,*+*, Accepted: September ,., ,*+* Released Online Advance Publication: November ,/, ,*+* Correspondence: Dr. S Hasegawa, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Kobe 0/1ῌ2/*+, Japan. (E-mail: [email protected]) Lemme et al., ,**.). Thus, to evaluate the alternatives for corn, the determination of amino acid digestibility of the alternatives would be crucial. To date, there is a large body of published work on amino acid digestibility coe$cients for di#erent feed ingredients (NRC, +33.). However, the data are variable due to di#erences in methodology used including the site of measurement (Ten Doeschate et al., +33-; Kadim and Moughan, +331; Ravindran et al., +333; Kadim et al., ,**,; Kluth et al., ,**/; Rezvani et al., ,**2a, ,**2b). Isshiki et al. (+323) established the progressive method of intestinal fistulization in chickens for nutritional study. This method can eliminate the e#ects of gut microflora in the caecal/colon on the measurement of digestibility and can be repeated without sacrificing the birds. Using this method, we previously showed that most of the crude protein, crude fat and nitrogen-free extract were absorbed in the proximal part of the ileum when fistulized chickens were fed formula diets (Kamisoyama et al., ,**3, Honda et al., ,**3). A similar trend was observed when amino acid digestibility was measured in the chickens fed the formula diets (Kamisoyama et al., ,*+*, Honda et al., ,*+*). There is evidence that the primary site for amino acid, glucose and fatty acid absorption is the small intestine in birds (Whittow, ,***). Thus, this method is useful to determine the amino acid digestibility of feed ingredients as alternatives for corn in chickens. The objective of the present study was to investigate the Journal of Poultry Science, .2 (+) 20 e#ects of dietary cereals such as corn, sorghum, wheat, hulled barley and naked barley on amino acid digestibility using fistulized chickens. Materials and Methods Birds and Surgical Procedure for Fistulation Twenty four ,** day-old male Single Comb White Leghorn (Ghen Corporation, Gifu, Japan) were used in this study. The birds were divided into four groups of six birds each. Each group was fistulized on either the distal end of the jejunum (DJ, at the position of , cm anterior to Meckel’s diverticulum), the middle part of the ileum (MI, at the position of +, cm anterior to ileocecoclonic junction), the distal end of the ileum (DI, at the position of cm anterior to the ileocecoclonic junction) or the distal end of the rectum (DR, at the position of + cm anterior to the cloaca) as described previously (Isshiki et al., +323). All experimental procedures followed the guidelines for the care and use of experimental animals at the Rokkodai Campus of Kobe University in Japan. Postoperative Care Fistulized birds were placed into individual cages and fed a commercial diet (CP,+ῌ, ME ,2/ kcal/+** g diet, Nippon Formula Feed Mfg Co., Ltd. Kanagawa, Japan) and water ad libitum. Birds that showed a decrease in body weight were tube-fed +* g of recovery diet (casein +2.**ῌ, glucose /2.*,ῌ, corn starch +*.**ῌ, cellulose ,.**ῌ, vitamin mixture *.,*ῌ, mineral mixture /.0-ῌ, choline chloride *.+/ῌ and aluminum silicate +.**ῌ) for / days after operation. Postoperative care and observation were the same as described previously (Isshiki et al., Table +. Composition of experimental diets Ingredients Yellow corn Sorghum Wheat Hulled barley Naked barley Mineral premix+ῌ Vitamin premix,ῌ Chromium oxide Calculated content Crude protein (ῌ) Crude fat (ῌ) Crude fiber (ῌ) Nitorogen free extract (ῌ) Metabolizable energy (kcal/g diet) +ῌ +323). Experimental Diets The diets were mixed at the same time using the same batch of ingredients. The composition of the experimental diets is presented in Table +. In all diets, the cereals served as the sole source of protein in each diet. All cereals were purchased from JA Nishinihon Kumiai Shiryou Co. (Kobe, Japan). Chromium oxide was purchased from Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd. (Osaka Japan). All other chemicals were purchased from Oriental Yeast Co. Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan). Sample Collection Birds had free access to the experimental diets (Table +) and water for a --day adaptation period followed by a -day collection of digesta from each site of intestines. Digesta were collected at 3:** and +1:** and samples from each site of intestines were pooled, mixed and dried at //῍ for .2 hours. All birds were used repeatedly for all di#erent dietary treatments. As the interval of the dietary treatment, birds were fed the commercial diet for 1 days. Chemical Analysis Amino acid contents in dried digesta and experimental diets were determined using an amino acids analyzer (Hitachi 2-/ῌ/*, Hitachi Inc., Tokyo, Japan) by the standard methods (AOAC, +33/). For the determination of Cr concentration, diets and digesta were ashed by a wet-ash digestion with sodium molybdate, sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Cr concentration was determined at a wavelength of ..* nm (Bolin et al., +3/,). Apparent digestibility of amino acid was calculated using the Cr concentration in the diets and digesta at each Corn Sorghum Wheat (g/+** g diet) Hulled barley Naked barley 3,41 3,41 3,41 3,41 /40 +4, *4/ /40 +4, *4/ /40 +4, *4/ /40 +4, *4/ 3,41 /40 +4, *4/ 14. -4/ +40 004/ -4/ 24, -4* +41 004-4. ++4, +41 ,4, 0/4. -4+ 342 +43 .4+ 0-42 ,43 34/ +42 +40 0040 ,43 Provided the following quantities of microminerals per kilogram of complete diet: Cu, ,/ mg as copper sulfate; Fe, +,* mg as iron sulfate; I, *.-* mg as potassium iodate; Mn, ,/ mg as manganese sulfate; Se, *.-* mg as sodium selenite; and Zn, +,/ mg as zinc oxide. ,ῌ Provided the following quantities of vitamins per kilogram of complete diet: vitamin A, +*,*-, IU as vitamin A acetate; vitamin D-, 33, IU as D-activated animal sterol; vitamin E, 22 IU as a-tocopherol acetate; vitamin K-, +./, mg as menadione dimethylpyrimidinol bisulphite; thiamin, +./ mg as thiamine mononitrate; riboflavin, +* mg; pyridoxine, ..* mg as pyridoxine hydrochloride; vitamin B+,, *.*/ mg; D-pantothenic acid, ,/ mg as calcium pantothenate; niacin, 0* mg; folic acid, +./ mg; and biotin, *.. mg. Kamisoyama et al.: Amino Acid Digestibility of Dietary Cereals Table ,. Amino acid composition of experimental diets (ῌ) Amino acid Corn Sorghum Wheat Hulled barley Naked barley Asp Thr Ser Glu Pro Gly Ala Val Met Ile Leu Tyr Phe Lys His Arg *4./ *4,0 *4-+4-. *40*4-. *4/*4-1 *4+. *4,. *422 *4-+ *4-/ *4,* *4,*4-, *4.3 *4,0 *4-. +4/1 *40, *4,1 *403 *4.* *4++ *4,2 +4** *4-, *4.* *4+0 *4+3 *4,0 *4/* *4-* *4.,4// *42. *4., *4-/ *4.*4+* *4-+ *4/2 *4,3 *4.+ *4,3 *4,*4.1 *4/, *4-* *4-0 +43+ *42, *4.* *4-0 *4.. *4+*4,3 *4// *4,3 *4.+ *4-+ *4+3 *4., *4/3 *4-0 *4.+ ,4-* +4*+ *4., *4.+ *4/+ *4++ *4-*40. *4-, *4/* *4-1 *4,*4/, site of the intestines by using the equation: Apparent digestibility of amino acid (ῌ)῏+**ῌ([AAD/AAF]῎ [CrF/CrD]῎+**). In this equation, AAD is the amino acid concentration present in the digesta at each site of the intestines, AAF is the amino acid concentration in the diet (Table ,), CrF is the Cr concentration in the diet, and CrD is the Cr concentration in the digesta at each site of the intestines. The intestinal digesta contains endogeneous nitrogen such as digestive enzymes, mucoproteins, desquamated cells, urea, amino acids produced by cell catabolism, serum albumin and micro-organisms (R´ erat, +312). Therefore, to calculate the true digestibility of amino acid, the amino acid contents in digesta of chickens fed the protein free diet (a-corn starch +*.*ῌ, corn oil -.*ῌ, cellulose -.*ῌ, mineral mix /.*ῌ, vitamin mix +.,ῌ, b-corn starch 10.1ῌ, chromium oxide (III) *./ῌ) were subtracted as endogenous amino acid contents from those of other groups. Statistical Analysis All data were expressed as mean῍SEM. Data were statistically analyzed by a two-way ANOVA on dietary treatments and sites of digestive tract. Dunnett’s post hoc test was then performed using the values of the corn group (Table /) as the control. Significant di#erence was set at Pῐ*.*/. All statistical analyses were performed using the commercial package (StatView version /, SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA, +332). Results As shown in Table -, the total amino acids contents in digesta tended to increase at the MI (Pῐ*.*2), DI (Pῐ *.+*) and DR (Pῐ*.-) compared to the DJ when the chickens fed the protein free diet. These values were used for calculation of the true digestibilities of amino acids. Statistical analysis (two-way ANOVA) did not show 21 any significant interaction between dietary cereals and the sites of the intestines on amino acid digestibility (data not shown), and hence, only the results of the main e#ects were presented in Tables . and /. As shown in Table ., there was no significant di#erence in amino acid digestibility between the sites of intestines. However, there were significant di#erences in amino acid digestibility between dietary cereals (Table /). The true digestibilities of +amino acids (Asp, Thr, Ser, Gly, Ala, Val, Met, Ile, Leu, Tyr, Phe, His and Arg) in the hulled barley group were significantly lower than those in the corn group (Table /). In contrast, the true digestibilities of only five amino acids (Gly, Met, Lys, His and Arg) in the sorghum group were significantly lower than those in the corn group (Table /). The true digestibilities of nine amino acids (Asp, Thr, Gly, Ala, Met, Ile, Leu, Tyr and Arg) in the wheat group and +* amino acids (Asp, Thr, Ser, Gly, Ala, Val, Met, Ile, Leu and Tyr) in the naked barley group were significantly lower than those in the corn group (Table /). In both the naked barley and the hulled barley groups, the true digestibility of total amino acids was significantly lower than that in the corn group (Table /). Discussion We previously showed that most of the crude protein (Kamisoyama et al., ,**3, Honda et al., ,**3) and amino acids (Kamisoyama et al., ,*+*, Honda et al., ,*+*) were absorbed in the proximal part of the ileum when fistulized chickens were fed the casein diet. In the present study, there was no significant di#erence in amino acid digestibility between the sites of chicken intestines. These results suggest that most of amino acids were absorbed in the proximal part of the ileum when chickens were fed either the corn, sorghum, wheat, naked barley or hulled barley diets. In the present study, the true digestibilities of Gly, Met, Lys, His and Arg in the sorghum group were significantly lower than those in the corn group (Table /). The prolamin storage protein kafirins are the main form of protein storage bodies in sorghum. The b- and g-kafirins are known to contain a significant amount of cysteine (Weaver et al., +332) forming disulfide bonds in mature grains (Oria et al., +33/). The formation of disulfide-bound complexes has been implicated in the reduction of protein digestibility in mature sorghum grain. It is therefore possible that the significant di#erence in the amino acid digestibility between the sorghum and the corn group is due to the kafirins in sorghum. Nyannor et al. (,**1) reported that apparent total tract digestibility of nitrogen is significantly lower in chicks fed the sorghum-soybean meal diet than those fed the corn-soybean meal diet. However, they also showed that weight gain, feed intake, and feed e$ciency are not di#erent between the sorghum-soybean meal diet and the corn-soybean meal diet. Thus, although the true digestibilities of several amino acids of the sorghum group are lower than those of the corn group (Table /), sorghum could be used as a partial substitute for corn in poultry Journal of Poultry Science, .2 (+) 22 The amount of amino acids at di#erent sites of the digestive tract of chickens fed a protein free diet (mg/day) Table -. Asp Thr Ser Glu Pro Gly Ala Val Met Ile Leu Tyr Phe Lys His Arg Total DJ MI DI DR /+41-ῌ 14,* --43.ῌ+*410 ,14.+ῌ 243* /-4.1ῌ /42* ,.432ῌ +4/+ ,-41-ῌ 34** -*42.ῌ ,43+ ,/4-*ῌ /42+ .4.,ῌ ,40/ ,/4,-ῌ -4-1 -*421ῌ ,4/* +-41-ῌ 14-+ +0431ῌ 14-, +-431ῌ .401 +*41.ῌ 14., ,-412ῌ 241+ .++4+*ῌ3/42, .04+1ῌ -4.2 .+4-+ῌ -41. ..4./ῌ 14/. 0.4*-ῌ 1402 .04**ῌ .4-+ -+4/.ῌ +413 -+4.-ῌ ,4*1 ,1402ῌ+*43+ 1421ῌ 2420 ,24/-ῌ /42* ./4+-ῌ +4,. +.431ῌ 043* ,,4/+ῌ .403 ++4.*ῌ 04/2420ῌ ,40* ,/4--ῌ .4*0 .314,*ῌ2,4+2 /-4*.ῌ -4-2 -04/-ῌ /43. -*4*+ῌ 14+, /+4.2ῌ 14,+ -.41/ῌ +420 -+4.*ῌ ,401 ,14//ῌ .4*+ .*4.1ῌ 34++ +*4*2ῌ 04/0 ,04-/ῌ /4/3 .*42+ῌ +42* +.4/,ῌ 140/ +24+3ῌ 2432 +-4/+ῌ 34++ 3410ῌ 341, +2432ῌ +4*. ./14.,ῌ3+41/ 004,+ῌ .4,/,4/1ῌ -40/ /*423ῌ 14/3 2*42.ῌ 24./ /.402ῌ 04*.-4,+ῌ 34+2 -14,,ῌ ,4/1 0/4,/ῌ 34/. ++423ῌ /411 .*4*0ῌ 04-3 /0411ῌ *4/1 ,.4,.ῌ 04+3 --40/ῌ .4/, +/41/ῌ -4-+-40-ῌ 04+/ ,14,1ῌ -4.2 01.4++ῌ2140. Data represent the meanῌSEM of 0 birds. DJ: the distal end of the jejunum, MI: the middle part of the ileum, DI: the distal end of the ileum, DR: the distal end of the rectum. Table .. Comparison of the true digestibilities of amino acids between the sites of chicken intestines (ῌ) Amino acid DJ MI DI DR Asp Thr Ser Glu Pro Gly Ala Val Met Ile Leu Tyr Phe Lys His Arg Total 2,4*2ῌ0400 1+4/-ῌ142* 2+41-ῌ/4,3 3,403ῌ/410 22403ῌ/43+ 134.-ῌ-42, 2+4.3ῌ.4,3 2.410ῌ/4+1 114,2ῌ/4+1 2-4*2ῌ/4,2241.ῌ04*1 224*3ῌ-4.3 2241/ῌ.4., 1343.ῌ-402 214,,ῌ/4-. 214+.ῌ-4// 2-43,ῌ.4/0 204/1ῌ041, 2*4/*ῌ/4*0 3*403ῌ24.3.410ῌ0423.4*.ῌ.43214**ῌ.431 2/4+*ῌ14/+ 3,4+3ῌ-4/0 2+4**ῌ.4.* 224,0ῌ.4*3 3,4*+ῌ,4,1 3+4*2ῌ.41+ 3-4-,ῌ04.3 1243,ῌ14*, 2242*ῌ-4*0 3+4.+ῌ04*+ 224.2ῌ/4-0 2/4*1ῌ14,2 2-410ῌ-41. 234*-ῌ/412 3-420ῌ-4.3 3,42,ῌ04+0 2+4,*ῌ04+2-42/ῌ/412 20430ῌ/4// 12412ῌ/4-/ 2043/ῌ042, 3*4,3ῌ/4/, 234.1ῌ04-* 3*4.*ῌ-413 2*4*/ῌ/4+0 224/3ῌ.4-224/3ῌ-4,/ 2042/ῌ-4/. 2,4-*ῌ.42* 13423ῌ04,. 204-0ῌ.4/, 3,41+ῌ.433,41.ῌ.4-. 114*2ῌ.410 2+4-2ῌ-43, 2140*ῌ/4-114-1ῌ.4-2 2/412ῌ.403 234,3ῌ/420 224-/ῌ.4*/ 234*-ῌ-42+ 1140.ῌ.4*2 204*3ῌ-43* 214**ῌ-4,, 2/4*.ῌ-433 Data represent the meanῌSEM of -* birds. DJ: the distal end of the jejunum, MI: the middle part of the ileum, DI: the distal end of the ileum, DR: the distal end of the rectum. diets. Beta-glucans present in the endosperm cell walls of barley is known to be a major cause of the suppression of growth rate in chicks fed barley diet. This e#ect is attributed to an increase in intestinal viscosity (Burnett, +300; White et al., +32+). In fact, Almirall et al. (+33/) reported that dietary b-glucanase decreases intestinal vis- cosity and increases ileal crude protein digestibility in chicks fed barley diet. Edney et al. (+323) reported that dietary b-glucanase was highly e#ective in improving growth and feed conversion of broiler chicks fed on hulled barley or hulless barley diets. In the present study, the true digestibilities of total amino acids in the naked barley and the hulled barley groups were significantly lower than Kamisoyama et al.: Amino Acid Digestibility of Dietary Cereals Table /. 23 Comparison of the true digestibilities of amino acids between dietary cereals (ῌ) Amino acid Corn Sorghum Wheat Hulled barley Naked barley Asp Thr Ser Glu Pro Gly Ala Val Met Ile Leu Tyr Phe Lys His Arg Total 3.4,0ῌ.42* 3*4--ῌ-413/422ῌ/4+1 314.*ῌ-4+1 3/43-ῌ.4,2 3*4,-ῌ/4*, 3/4+.ῌ/422 3141.ῌ.410 3,41.ῌ-4/0 3/42-ῌ-411 314/3ῌ-43. 304*0ῌ.4+2 3043-ῌ/42, 2.4-*ῌ/4,1 3/4.-ῌ/4+/ 3041+ῌ,401 3.4/-ῌ.4/3 214.+ῌ.4.2*40*ῌ/432 2143*ῌ/43. 3-4.-ῌ/41. 214/0ῌ.4-1 134*-ῌ.421* 3+412ῌ/4+. 3*4*2ῌ-40* 2+43+ῌ/432* 224/*ῌ-41, 3-433ῌ/4** 3+4*2ῌ/4,2 3,4+1ῌ,4/1,41*ῌ.4/-* 2-41.ῌ/4*/* 214,0ῌ-4./* 2042,ῌ040+ 2,4/.ῌ-40.* 1242*ῌ-41/** 224-*ῌ/41/ 3.43*ῌ-4,+ 3/4/2ῌ-4*/ 2+4+,ῌ,42** 12402ῌ,4-+** 204,*ῌ.4-/ 1/4/2ῌ,43/* 20432ῌ-42-* 2342*ῌ,402* 234.*ῌ,4+.** 23430ῌ-423 2+4,*ῌ,4-3 234*/ῌ,4-* 214,/ῌ+4-3** 2/430ῌ.431 1.402ῌ14+1* 004..ῌ/40*** 124+1ῌ/4*+* 234-*ῌ/4*, 234/3ῌ/421 1.41/ῌ/4*+* 1+4.2ῌ.423* 1243*ῌ/4/.* 034.,ῌ.4*3* 1/4/.ῌ/4-/* 2-402ῌ.422* 2-4/,ῌ.4.,* 2.41.ῌ/4*3* 1.4//ῌ.43* 2-4-+ῌ,40/* 2.4,0ῌ.400* 12423ῌ,4-/** 2+4+/ῌ142.* 124./ῌ/43/* 2.4/,ῌ.4.-* 3,4/+ῌ/422 3+41+ῌ/42+ 2*410ῌ-42/* 1141*ῌ/4--* 204.1ῌ/4,-* 1-4.+ῌ.4/.* 2-4,/ῌ04+.* 2/4-0ῌ/4*3* 204+2ῌ.4,3* 224*1ῌ/43. 2,43-ῌ.410 2042/ῌ-4*0 214,+ῌ/4.* 2.4+0ῌ,4.** Data represent the meanῌSEM of ,. birds. *,**: significant with respect to the corn group (P῍*.*/ and *.*+). those in the corn group (Table /). It is therefore possible that b-glucans in the barley might be involved in the low amino acid digestibility in the hulled and naked barley groups. The true digestibilities of nine amino acids (Asp, Thr, Gly, Ala, Met, Ile, Leu, Tyr and Arg) in the wheat group were significantly lower than those in the corn group (Table /). As shown in Table +, the crude protein content of the wheat diet (++.,ῌ) is +./-fold higher than that of the corn diet (1./ῌ), and the crude fat content of the wheat diet (+.1ῌ) is lower than that of the corn diet (-./ῌ). We previously showed that dietary protein levels (+*ῌ-*ῌ) do not influence the true digestibility of amino acid at the DR when chickens were fed casein-corn oil diet (Kamisoyama et al., ,*+*). We also reported that dietary fat levels (-ῌ+*ῌ) do not influence the true digestibility of amino acid at the DR when chickens were fed caseintallow diet (Honda et al., ,*+*). It is therefore possible that the di#erence in the content of crude protein or crude fat is related to the low amino acid digestibility in the wheat group (Table /). Further study will be needed to address this possibility. Arabinoxylans and b-glucans are major components of cell walls of mature wheat endosperm. Arabinoxylans increase the viscosity of wheat-based diets in chickens and interfere with digestion and absorption of the nutrients (Annison and Choct, +33+). Since dietary xylanase hydrolyzes the arabinoxylans and releases the enclosed nutrients, chickens can digest the nutrients more easily and achieve better growth performance (Choct and Annison, +33,). On the other hand, a dietary b-glucanase is not e#ective in improving amino acid digestibility in broiler chicks fed on wheat-soybean meal diet (Edney et al., +323). It is therefore possible that arabinoxylans in the wheat might be involved in the low amino acid digestibility in the wheat group. In summary, we investigated the true digestibilities of all amino acids except for tryptophan of dietary cereals at di#erent sites of chicken intestines. Our results showed that the true digestibilities of +- amino acids in the hulled barley group were significantly lower than those in the corn group. In contrast, the true digestibilities of only five amino acids in the sorghum group were significantly lower than those in the corn group. The true digestibilities of nine amino acids in the wheat group and +* amino acids in the naked barley group were significantly lower than those in the corn group. These results clearly demonstrate that corn shows the highest amino acid digestibility among cereals used in this study and that there is no significant e#ect of sampling site on the amino acid digestibility of the dietary cereals. Acknowledgments This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid (Number +3,*2*,.) for Scientific Research (A) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan. References Almirall M, Francesch M, Perez-vendrell AM, Brufau J and Esteve-garcia E. The di#erences in intestinal viscosity produced by barley and b-glucanase alter digesta enzyme activities and ileal nutrient digestibilities more in broiler chicks than in cocks. Journal of Nutrition, +,/: 3.1ῌ3//. +33/. Annison G and Choct M. Anti-nutritive activities of cereal non-starch polysaccharides in broiler diets and strategies 24 Journal of Poultry Science, .2 (+) minimizing their e#ect. World’s Poultry Science Journal, .1: ,-,ῌ,.,. +33+. Archimede ◊ H, Gonzalez-Garcia E, Despois P, Etienne T and Alexandre G. Substitution of corn and soybean with green banana fruits and Gliricidia sepium forage in sheep fed hay-based diets: e#ects on intake, digestion and growth. 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