Animal Feed Science and Technology

116 (2004) 313–318

The effect of the extrusion process on the

digestibility of feed given to laying hens
M. Lichovnikovaa,∗ , L. Zemanb , S. Kracmarb , D. Kleckera
a Department of Poultry Breeding, Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry,
MZLU v Brne, Zemedelska 1, Brno 61300, Czech Republic
b Department of Animal Nutrition, Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry,
Zemedelska 1, Brno 61300, Czech Republic

Received 17 September 2003; received in revised form 27 July 2004; accepted 29 July 2004

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to observe the effect of feeding extruded feed that contained rapeseed
(that was extruded using the standard methods for large-scale production of extruded feed) on retention
and coefficient of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) in hens. The laying hens were divided
into two groups NEX and EXT. The composition of the diets was the same in both groups (wheat 39%,
rapeseed 13.5%, pea 13.5%, soya bean meal 6%, maize 14%, fish meal 3%, limestone 1%, premix
10%). But 0.45 kg of 1 kg of the diets EXT (wheat, pea, and rapeseed) was extruded by dry extrusion
at temperature 137 ◦ C and at moisture from 12 to 18% for 16 s. A balance assay was conducted with
four laying hens from group NEX and eight from group EXT when they were 61 weeks old. The
CTTAD of fat, calcium and amino-acids, and the retention of the nitrogen were estimated using the
indicator method. The significance between the means was evaluated by a t-test. The average egg
mass production during the assay was for group NEX 45 ± 3.9 g/hen/day and for group EXT 50 ±
5.0 g/hen/day. The extrusion process significantly increased (P < 0.001) the CTTAD of fat from 0.807
(NEX) to 0.937 (EXT). The coefficient of nitrogen retention was higher in group EXT (0.629) than
in group NEX (0.584). The extrusion significantly increased the CTTAD of arginine (P < 0.05, NEX:
0.929, EXT: 0.944) and isoleucine (P < 0.05, NEX: 0.870, EXT: 0.904). The extrusion had a tendency
to increase the CTTAD of leucine (P < 0.1, NEX: 0.885, EXT: 0.907), glutamic acid (P < 0.1, NEX:
0.931, EXT: 0.945), glycine (P < 0.06, NEX: 0.823, EXT: 0.859) and alanine (P < 0.1, NEX: 0.806,

Abbreviations: CTTAD, coefficient of total tract apparent digestibility

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +420 5 45 13 32 29.
E-mail address: lichov@mendelu.cz (M. Lichovnikova).

0377-8401/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2004.07.018
314 M. Lichovnikova et al. / Animal Feed Science and Technology 116 (2004) 313–318

EXT: 0.844). CTTAD of lysine was almost the same in both groups (NEX: 0.950 and EXT: 0.949).
The extrusion process had a tendency to decrease the CTTAD of histidine (P < 0.06, NEX: 0.906,
EXT: 0.859) and tyrosine (P < 0.07, NEX: 0.974, EXT: 0.921). The extrusion had a positive effect
on the fat CTTAD, nitrogen retention and on the CTTAD of the essential amino-acids (except lysine
and histidine). The decrease in the digestibility of these two amino-acids was not significant.
© 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Total tract apparent digestibility; Fat; Calcium; Amino-acids; Retention; Nitrogen

1. Introduction

The nutrient profile of rapeseed makes it an ideal ingredient for high nutrient dense diets.
Although content of goitrogens (glucosinolates) in rapeseed has been markedly reduced
through genetic selection, at feeding higher levels of rapeseed the higher concentration
of glucosinolates can occur in the diets. Extrusion is one of the methods to reduce the
gucosinolate contents (Fenwick et al. , 1986; Dänicke et al., 1998). Fenwick et al. (1986) used
dry extrusion at temperature 150 and 130 ◦ C and Dänicke et al. (1998) used hydrothermal
treatment at 105 ◦ C. Also Liang et al. (2002) reported about positive effect of extrusion on
feeding value of rapeseed meal. However rapeseed meal has a little different quality than
raw rapeseed because of its treatment after oil extraction. In general heating improves the
digestibility of proteins by inactivating enzyme inhibitors and denaturing the protein that
may expose new sites for enzyme attack (Camire et al., 1990). Extrusion also can affect the
digestibility of starch. Bjorck et al. (in Camire et al., 1990) found that both the in vitro and
in vivo digestibility of extruded starch was enhanced by extrusion.
The purpose of the study was to find the effect of feeding extruded feed containing
rapeseed that was extruded at operating conditions typical for large-scale production on
retention and coefficient of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD). Extrusion was used
to reduce glucosinolate content of rapeseed. Rapeseed was extruded together with wheat
and pea because of technical fulfillment.

2. Material and methods

The laying hens were divided into two groups: NEX and EXT. The composition of the
mixtures NEX and EXT was the same (wheat 39%, rapeseed 13.5%, pea 13.5%, soya bean
meal 6%, maize 14%, fish meal 3%, limestone 1%, premix 10%) but 45% of the mixture
EXT was extruded. Wheat, pea and rapeseed in ratio 4:3:3 were mixed and grinded (screen
3 mm). Then part of the meal was extruded by dry extrusion at temperature 137 ◦ C and at
moisture from 12 to 18% for 16 s. The extruder was made by Insta-Pro International the
model Insta-Pro 2 500. There was 45% of the extruded meal in the mixture EXT and 45% of
the no extruded meal in the mixture NEX. The meals (extruded and no extruded) were mixed
with the rest of components without next grinding. The composition and nutrient content of
the mixtures are shown in Tables 1 and 2 . Rapeseed with low content of glucosinolates (so-
called double zeros “00”) was used. The content of glucosinolates was in NEX 855 ␮mol/kg
 M. Lichovnikova et al. / Animal Feed Science and Technology 116 (2004) 313–318 315

Table 1
Feed mixture formulation (g/kg)
Group

NEX EXT
Wheat (extruded) – 180
Rapeseed (extruded) – 135
Pea (extruded) – 135
Wheat (non-extruded) 180 –
Rapeseed (non-extruded) 135 –
Pea (non-extruded) 135 –
Wheat 210
Soya bean meal 60
Maize 140
Fish meal 30
Limestone 10
Premix 100
Composition of the premix: Ca, 310.5 g/kg; P, 38.0 g/kg; Na, 7.9 g/kg; NaCl, 15.8 g/kg; Mg, 1.5 g/kg; K, 0.6 g/kg;
S, 0.5 g/kg; Cu, 45.4 mg/kg; Fe, 1311.7 mg/kg; Zn, 555.0 mg/kg; Mn, 549.7 mg/kg; Co, 2.2 mg/kg; I, 32.5 mg/kg;
Se, 4 mg/kg; Vitamin E, 231 mg/kg; Vitamin K3, 20.0 mg/kg; Vitamin B1, 20.6 mg/kg; Vitamin B2, 72.1 mg/kg;
Vitamin B6, 30.0 mg/kg; Vitamin B12, 0.1 mg/kg; biotin, 1.0 mg/kg; niacin, 230.9 mg/kg; folic acid, 9.6 mg/kg;
calcium pantothenate, 89.9 mg/kg; cholin, 4672 mg/kg; l-lysine, 404 mg/kg; Met, 7104 mg/kg; Thr, 364 mg/kg;
Vitamin A, 100,000 mJ/kg; Vitamin D3, 20,000 mJ/kg.

and in EXT 765 ␮mol/kg. At 61 weeks of age, four laying hens from group NEX and eight
from group EXT were kept individually in balance cages. After a 1-week adjustment period,
the balance assay was done. The hens were fed the mixture ad libitum. Excrement was
collected every 24 h for 5 days and the samples were dried at 105 ◦ C each day to inhibit any
changes. The CTTAD of the fat, calcium and amino-acids, and the retention of the nitrogen,
ash and phosphorus were estimated using the indicator method. Insoluble ash in 3 mol l−1

Table 2
Diet composition (g/kg dry matter)
Nutrient Group (NEX + EXT)
Dry matter (g) 873.0
Crude protein (g) 163.0
Methionine (g) 3.4
Sulphuric amino-acids (g) 6.6
Threonine (g) 6.2
Fibre (g) 35.9
AMEN a (mJ) 11.8
Ca (g) 37.4
P (g) 8.3
Na (g) 1.4
Mg (g) 1.6
AME (kJ/kg) = 38.5 × (the content of fat in the mixture) × CTTDA of fat + 17 × (the content of crude protein in
the mixture) × (the retention of crude protein) + 17 × (the content of nitrogen-free extract) × 0.86.
a AME in EXT = 12.3 mJ/kg.
N
316 M. Lichovnikova et al. / Animal Feed Science and Technology 116 (2004) 313–318

Table 3
Coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) and retention
NEX (average ± S.E.) EXT (average ± S.E.) Significance
CTTAD
Dry matter 0.789 ± 0.1258 0.813 ± 0.1776 NS
Fat 0.807 ± 0.0160 0.937 ± 0.0945 P < 0.001
Calcium 0.673 ± 0.0295 0.674 ± 0.0432 NS
Retention of nutrients
Nitrogen 0.584 ± 0.0180 0.629 ± 0.0346 NS
Ash 0.591 ± 0.0282 0.612 ± 0.0435 NS
Phosphorus 0.520 ± 0.0340 0.493 ± 0.0394 NS
S.E., standard error; NS, non-significant.

HCl was used as an indicator. The content of nitrogen was determined according to Kjeldahl.
The content of fat was determined according to Soxhlet. Ash was determined after searing
at 550 ◦ C. The contents of calcium and phosphorus were determined by spectrophotometry.
The samples of the feed and excrement were treated by oxidative acid hydrolysis HCl (c
= 6 mol l−1 ). The samples to measure sulphur amino-acids were hydrolysed separately and
before oxidative acid hydrolysis they were oxidised by performic acid. The chromatographic
analysis of the hydrolysate samples was performed in the analyser AAA 400 (f. Ingos,
Prague) using Na-citrate buffers and ninhydrin detection to find the amounts of certain
amino-acids. The significance between the means was evaluated by a t-test (Snedecor and
Cochran, 1967).

3. Results and discussion

The effect of the extrusion process on the performance of the laying hens when it is 45%
of the feed, and the quality of their eggs has been already published (Lichovnikova et al.,
2000). The average weight of the hens was 1775 g (NEX) and 1791 g (EXT) at the start
of the assay. The average egg mass production during the assay was for group NEX 45 ±
3.9 g/hen/day and for group EXT 50 ± 5.0 g/hen/day. The difference was not significant.
The average feed intake in group NEX was 89.3 ± 3.74 g/hen/day and in group EXT it was
88.6 ± 2.06 g/hen/day. The CTTAD and the retention of nutrients are shown in Table 3.
The CTTAD of dry matter was no significantly enhanced by extrusion (NEX: 0.789, EXT:
0.813). Extrusion significantly (P < 0.001) increased the CTTAD of fat from 0.807 (NEX)
to 0.937 (EXT). Extrusion did not affect the CTTAD of the calcium (NEX: 0.673 and EXT:
0.674). Retention of nitrogen was no significantly higher in group EXT (0.629) than in the
group NEX (0.584). Retention of ash was also slightly no significantly higher in group EXT
(0.612) than in group NEX (0.591). The retention of phosphorus was no significantly higher
in group NEX in comparison with that of group EXT (0.520 vs. 0.493).
The coefficients of CTTAD of the amino-acids are shown in Table 4. Generally, the
extrusion process had a positive effect on the CTTAD of the amino-acids. The extrusion
significantly increased the CTTAD of arginine (P < 0.05, NEX: 0.929, EXT: 0.944) and
isoleucine (P < 0.05, NEX: 0.870, EXT: 0.904). The extrusion had a tendency to increase
 M. Lichovnikova et al. / Animal Feed Science and Technology 116 (2004) 313–318 317

Table 4
Coefficients of total tract apparent amino-acid digestibility
NEX (average ± S.E.) EXT (average ± S.E.) Significance
Lysine 0.950 ± 0.0052 0.949 ± 0.0068 NS
Methionine 0.895 ± 0.0081 0.906 ± 0.0097 NS
Threonine 0.881 ± 0.0091 0.902 ± 0.0098 NS
Arginine 0.929 ± 0.0032 0.944 ± 0.0058 P < 0.05
Histidine 0.906 ± 0.0124 0.859 ± 0.0180 P < 0.06
Isoleucine 0.870 ± 0.0106 0.904 ± 0.0099 P < 0.05
Leucine 0.885 ± 0.0097 0.907 ± 0.0099 P < 0.1
Valine 0.863 ± 0.0112 0.889 ± 0.0111 NS
Phenylalanine 0.940 ± 0.0077 0.950 ± 0.0099 NS
Tyrosine 0.974 ± 0.0113 0.921 ± 0.0232 P < 0.07
Cysteine 0.930 ± 0.0044 0.915 ± 0.0103 NS
Aspartic acid 0.887 ± 0.0098 0.906 ± 0.0089 NS
Serine 0.888 ± 0.0087 0.908 ± 0.0095 NS
Glutamic acid 0.931 ± 0.0054 0.945 ± 0.0057 P < 0.1
Proline 0.928 ± 0.0075 0.937 ± 0.0061 NS
Glycine 0.823 ± 0.0120 0.859 ± 0.0125 P < 0.06
Alanine 0.806 ± 0.0146 0.844 ± 0.0147 P < 0.1
S.E., standard error; NS, non-significant.

the CTTAD of leucine (P < 0.1, NEX: 0.885, EXT: 0.907), glutamic acid (P < 0.1, NEX:
0.931, EXT: 0.945), glycine (P < 0.06, NEX: 0.823, EXT: 0.859) and alanine (P < 0.1,
NEX: 0.806, EXT: 0.844). CTTAD of lysine was almost the same in both groups (NEX:
0.950 and EXT: 0.949). The extrusion process had a tendency to decrease the CTTAD of
histidine (P < 0.06, NEX: 0.906, EXT: 0.859) and tyrosine (P < 0.07, NEX: 0.974, EXT:
0.921). The CTTAD of methionine, threonine, valine, phenylalanine, aspartic acid, serine
and proline was no significantly higher after extrusion. The CTTAD of cysteine was no
significantly lower after extrusion.
Alonso et al. (2000) reported that extrusion of pea greatly elevated starch digestibility
in vitro which can correspond with higher digestibility of dry matter in our experiment.
Dänicke et al. (1998) found that increasing the temperature of the thermal treatments resulted
in an increase in crude fat digestibility which coincides with our results. Also Mujahid et
al. (2003) reported that extrusion significantly increased digestibility of fat of rice bran at
broilers. Contrary to our findings Dänicke et al. (1998) reported a decrease in the digestibility
of crude proteins after the treatments. On the other hand Alonso et al. (2000) reported
that extrusion of pea greatly elevated protein digestibility in vitro. And also Dahlin and
Lorenz (1993) observed beneficial effect of extrusion on protein digestibility of cereal-
grain (including wheat) in vitro. Fernandezfigares et al. (1995) observed that after heat
treatment (autoclaving), there was a significant increase in the digestibility of the amino-
acids. Because methionine is the first limiting amino-acid followed by lysine the decrease of
CTTAD of histidene is not relevant. Also Parsons et al. (1992) observed lower digestibility
of histidine and cysteine after the heat treatment (autoclaving). They reported a lower
digestibility of lysine that is contrary to our findings, but the content of lysine may have
been impacted during the drying of the faeces in our experiment. Bioavailability of histidine
was probably affected by Maillard reactions. Cysteine digestibility may also be affected by
318 M. Lichovnikova et al. / Animal Feed Science and Technology 116 (2004) 313–318

the heat treatment during its conversion to lanthionine. As Opstvedt et al. (1984) found
heating at 115 ◦ C caused a loss in cystine plus cysteine and reduced protein and amino-acid
digestibility.

4. Conclusion

Extrusion had a positive effect on the CTTAD of fat, the retention of nitrogen, and on
the CTTAD of essential amino-acids except for lysine and histidine. But, the decrease of
CTTAD of these two amino-acids was not significant.

Acknowledgments

Authors thank Mrs. Judy McPherson for the language correction.Supported by the Min-
istry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (grant no. MSM 432100001).

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