Pigs to Pork
NUTRITION
Cooperative Extension Service PURDUE UNIVERSITY Lafayette, Indiana
Protein for Swine
Vernon B. Mayrose aud James R. Foster, Animal Sciences Department
AS-337 Jan., 1966
The proteins are made up primarily of the chemical elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. Some proteins also contain small amounts of other elements such as sulfur, iodine, phosphorus and iron. Proteins are made up of "building blocks" called amino acids. There are at least 22 different amino acids found in animal feeds . Ten of these amino acids are considered essential for swine because they must be supplied in tihe feed so the animal’s needs are met each day. The 10 essential amino acids for swine are:
Arginine
Histidine
Isoleucine
Leucine
Lysine
Methionine
Phenylalanine
Threonine
Tryptophan
Valine
The remaining amino acids, or the non-essential ones, are important in building body tissue, however, if they are not contained in the ration the pig can normally synthesize adequate amounts to meet his requirements.
The amino acids may be compared to letters of the alphabet. Just as letters of the alphabet may be combined into many different words, so may amino acids be combined into different proteins. For example, if the alphabet did not contain the letter "p" it would be impossible to write the word "protein". By the same analogy, if any one of the essential amino acids, such as methionine, is completely absent from the ration, body tissue that normally contains that particular amino acid cannot be formed.
This pig lost two pounds in 28 days because he was on a This pig gained 25 pounds during a 28 day period on a diet deficient in amino acids.	diet of sufficient amino acids.