Threonine

Threonine: nutritional balance in practice

In European feed formulas, threonine is usually the second limiting amino acid for pig and the third for poultry. Like lysine, to which it is complementary, threonine is an essential amino acid for body protein deposition and growth. Thus, deficiency in threonine affects the utilization of dietary lysine and consequently animal growth.

More on "Threonine requirement in pigs"

Moreover, threonine is involved in a certain number of specific physiological processes. It is notably involved in digestion and immunity. Thus, a deficiency in threonine leads to disorders in the digestive physiology which can, in turn, increase the frequency of digestive problems. As a consequence, total threonine requirement varies depending on the relative importance of these different functions. It is therefore important to determine the threonine requirement which corresponds to each physiological stage in order to improve the balance and efficiency of feeds.

The table below gives a summary of AJINOMOTO EUROLYSINE S.A.S. proposals concerning threonine requirements per species and per growth stage when justified. These requirements, in accordance with the concept of ideal protein, are expressed on a standardized ileal digestible basis with relation to lysine.

	Poultry		Pig
	Chicken and Turkey	Layer	Piglet	Grower-Finisher	Sow
Threonine, % lysine	>65%	70%	65%	67-68%	>70%

As for L-Lysine, L-Threonine supplementation in monogastric feeds (pig, poultry and others) represent a simple, effective and accurate way of adjusting threonine content to the animal requirement, in order to optimize the technico-economic result of production. L-Threonine supplementation contributes to a better utilization of lysine and of the feed in general. In association with L-Lysine, the use of L-Threonine makes it possible to reduce dietary protein content and, as a consequence, to reduce nitrogen excretion from animal husbandry. As for L-Lysine, L-Threonine is 100% digestible, so its utilization by the animal is far greater than that of protein-bound threonine from vegetal proteins.