These outcomes advance the current underst and ing of Ca digestibility and utilisation , and should contribute towards establishing requirements for digestible Ca .
Consequently , pig diets will be more correctly formulated if digestible Ca values are used in estimating requirements for Ca
Ca digestibility and utilisation in growing pigs are not well understood , and are usually neglected in diet formulation .
This has implication s not only for the accurate determination of its requirements but also for its interactions with other nutrients .
A systematic review and meta- analysis ( meta-regression ) of published trials was carried out to quantify factors affecting Ca absorption and utilisation , and to derive an estimate of Ca endogenous excretion .
Effects of microbial phytase on apparent and standardized total tract digestibility of calcium in calcium supplements fed to growing pigs.
An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that differences in the apparent total tract digestibility ( ATTD ) and st and ardized total tract digestibility ( STTD ) of Ca exist among Ca supplements and that inclusion of microbial phytase increases the ATTD and STTD of Ca . One hundred and four growing barrows ( average initial BW of 17.73 ± 2.53 kg ) were allotted to a r and omized complete block design with 13 dietary treatments and 8 pigs per treatment . A basal diet containing corn , cornstarch , potato protein isolate , soybean oil , calcium carbonate , monosodium phosphate , vitamins , and minerals was formulated . Five additional diets were formulated by adding monocalcium phosphate ( MCP ) , dicalcium phosphate ( DCP ) , calcium carbonate , Lithothamnium calcareum Ca , or a high-Ca sugar beet co-product to the basal diet at the expense of cornstarch . Six additional diets that were similar to the previous 6 diets with the exception that they also contained 500 units per kilogram of microbial phytase were also formulated . A Ca-free diet was used to determine basal endogenous losses of Ca . Feces were collected using the marker-to-marker approach . Results indicated that regardless of inclusion of microbial phytase , MCP had the greatest ( P < 0.05 ) ATTD and STTD of Ca . The ATTD and STTD of Ca in DCP were greater ( P < 0.05 ) than in calcium carbonate , L. calcareumC a , or in the sugar beet co-product , but no differences were observed among the ATTD and STTD of Ca in calcium carbonate , L. calcareum Ca , or sugar beet co-product . Inclusion of microbial phytase increased ( P < 0.05 ) the ATTD and STTD of Ca in the diets , but this was not the case in the Ca supplements . Regardless of inclusion of microbial phytase , the ATTD of P was greater ( P < 0.05 ) in pigs fed basal , MCP , or DCP diets than in pigs fed calcium carbonate , L. calcareum Ca , or the sugar beet co-product , but pigs fed calcium carbonate diets had greater ( P < 0.05 ) ATTD of P than pigs fed L. calcareumCa or the sugar beet co-product . Regardless of Ca source , inclusion of microbial phytase increased ( P < 0.001 ) the ATTD of P. In conclusion , MCP has the greatest ATTD and STTD of Ca  among the calcium supplements used in this experiment , followed by DCP . Basal , MCP , and DCP diets had greater ATTD of P than the other diets , and inclusion of microbial phytase increased the ATTD and STTD of Ca and the ATTD of P in the diets
These outcomes advance the current underst and ing of Ca digestibility and utilisation , and should contribute towards establishing requirements for digestible Ca .
Consequently , pig diets will be more correctly formulated if digestible Ca values are used in estimating requirements for Ca
Ca digestibility and utilisation in growing pigs are not well understood , and are usually neglected in diet formulation .
This has implication s not only for the accurate determination of its requirements but also for its interactions with other nutrients .
A systematic review and meta- analysis ( meta-regression ) of published trials was carried out to quantify factors affecting Ca absorption and utilisation , and to derive an estimate of Ca endogenous excretion .