The experiment was conducted to evaluate ileal digestibility of
amino acids (AA) in 8 corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) fed to broilers and to establish prediction equations for standardized ileal digestibility (
SID) of AA for broilers based on the physicochemical properties. A total of 1,152 1-day-old male broilers were divided into 2 test stages (from day 9 to 14 and from day 23 to 28). In each stage, 576 broilers were randomly allotted to 1 of 9 diets (8 replicates, 8 birds per replicate) including a
nitrogen-free diet and 8 corn DDGS test diets.
Titanium dioxide (0.5%) was included in all diets as an external marker. In 8 corn DDGS samples, the contents of
aflatoxin B1,
deoxynivalenol,
zearalenone, and
zein were from 1.54 to 15.50 ppb, 0.44 to 5.12 ppm, 127.10 to 1062.46 ppb, and 3.10 to 26.89%, respectively; the content of
lysine and
methionine (Met) ranged from 0.36 to 0.67% (CV 21.51%) and from 0.16 to 0.74% (CV 58.04%), respectively. The
SID of AA, except for
valine and
alanine, were significantly different (P < 0.05) at day 28. A positive correlation was observed (P < 0.05) between degree of lightness and
SID of CP, Met, and total
amino acid (TAA) at day 14. A negative correlation was observed (P < 0.05) between
mycotoxins and
SID of CP,
lysine, Met, and TAA at day 28. The R2 value of stepwise regression equations for predicting the
SID of AA at day 14 and day 28 was best for
glutamic acid (R2 = 1.000 using
ether extract, crude fiber, CP,
aflatoxin B1, and neutral
detergent fiber) and TAA (R2 = 0.904 using
ether extract), respectively. In conclusion, this experiment suggested
mycotoxin can be used to predict the
SID of AA in corn DDGS with reasonable accuracy, and the results of
SID and prediction equations could be used to evaluate the digestibility of corn DDGS in broilers.