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In future the multivariate modelling approach presented could be extended by examining changes in digestibility over time, allowing for investigation of dietary manipulations during critical time windows in the first 2 weeks post-weaning. It should also been remembered that the use of the model is currently limited to diets based on cereals, included in the diet at a rate of 586 g/kg, but did encompass different cereals, processes and piglets demonstrating very different rates of growth.
In its current form, the predictive model does not apply to diets that contain variable amounts of cereals, since most of the in vitro variables used in the equation do not correlate linearly to the amount of starch in diets. It is clear that such an approach could be used to identify not only variation between cereal types and endogenous amylase concentration between different batches of a named cereal, but also the effect these parameters have on starch digestibility within the small intestine of the young piglet.
FJ Doucet, GA White, F Wulfert, SE Hill and J Wiseman, 2010. British Journal of Nutrition. 103: 1309.
