Flaxseed meal (FSM) is a by-product of the flax crushing industry and
contains an average of 34% crude protein (CP) and 13% fat on a DM basis.
The CP fraction is characterized by a low lysine content (4.1% of CP) but is
high in tryptophan (1.2%), methionine (1.9%) and threonine (3.7%).
Two experiments were conducted to determine the nutritional profile of FSM
for pigs. In Exp. 1, apparent nutrient digestibilities (AD) and the digestible (DE)
and net (NE) content of FSM were determined. The DE and NE contents were 3.52
and 2.46 Mcal/kg DM for growing pigs and 3.58 and 2.49 Mcal/kg DM for
sows, respectively. In Exp. 2, 5 barrows (38 kg) were fitted with T-cannulas at
their terminal ileum to determine the standardized ileal AA digestibility (SID) of
FSM. The SID AA content (g/kg dry FSM) was 29.6, 5.7, 12.1, 16.8, 10.3,
5.3, 14.0, 9.4, 2.9, 13.8 and 12.2 for Arg, His, Ile, Leu, Lys, Met, Phe, Thr, Trp
and Val respectively. Therefore, FSM contains a comparable nutritional value to that of canola
meal for pigs but with a lower lysine content and higher DE and NE content,
due to its high fat content. The main limiting factor for its use in swine nutrition
could be its low lysine content.

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