Effects of hulls of faba beans (Vicia faba L.) with a low or high content of condensed tannins on the apparent ileal and fecal digestibility of nutrients and the excretion of endogenous protein in ileal digesta and feces of pigs.

In three experiments (Exp. 1, 2, and 3) with young pigs (BW 10 to 26 kg), the effects of dietary inclusion of hulls of faba beans (Vicia faba L.) (200 g/kg) with a low (< .1% catechin equivalents; LT) or high tannin content (3.3% catechin equivalents; HT) on the apparent ileal (Exp. 1 and 2) and fecal (Exp. 3) digestibility of nutrients were determined. In addition, the true digestibility of protein of the diets and the excretion of endogenous protein (N x 6.25) in ileal digesta and feces of pigs were measured, using the 15N isotope dilution technique (Exp. 3). Diets contained either casein and faba bean cotyledons as highly soluble (HS) protein sources (Exp. 1 to 3) or potato protein, soy concentrate, sunflower meal, meat meal, and fish meal as protein sources with a low solubility (LS) (Exp. 1). Control diets contained cellulose as a fiber source (64 to 73 g/kg). Inclusion of either type of hulls decreased the apparent ileal digestibility for DM, organic matter (OM), and nonprotein organic matter (NPOM) (P < .05). Inclusion of LT hulls instead of cellulose only reduced the apparent ileal digestibility of crude protein (N x 6.25; CP) in Exp. 3 (P < .05). Inclusion of HT instead of LT hulls reduced the apparent ileal digestibility of CP (by 7 to 10 units) and amino acids (by 4 to 29 units) (P < .05). The LT hulls decreased apparent and true ileal digestibility of CP from 88 to 83 and from 97 to 94, respectively (P < .05). Inclusion of HT instead of LT hulls decreased apparent and true ileal CP digestibility from 83 to 74 and 94 to 90 (P < .05) and increased the excretion of endogenous CP from 22 to 32 and from 13 to 23 g/kg of DM intake at the ileal and fecal level, respectively (P < .05). It is concluded that condensed tannins in faba beans interact with both dietary and endogenous proteins in the digestive tract of pigs. This reduces the true digestibility of dietary protein and increases the excretion of endogenously secreted proteins. Tannins from faba beans show some preference to interact with proteins with a high content of proline and histidine.