Tag: Apparent digestibility

True digestibility provides a more accurate assessment of a feedstuff's nutrient value compared to apparent digestibility because it accounts for an animal's unavoidable endogenous losses. Mastering this calculation is critical for precise nutritional evaluation and effective feed formulation.

In animal nutrition, measuring how much of a feed's nutrients are utilized is complex, with a significant amount of nutrients in feces originating not from the diet but from the animal's own body. Understanding this distinction is the core of grasping the difference between true and apparent digestibility.

Over 75% of a healthy diet is typically absorbed by the body, but this is never a perfect 100%. When we discuss the efficiency of this process, many people wonder, 'What is the unit of digestibility?' In fact, it is not a single unit but a ratio, or coefficient, expressed as a percentage that is crucial for understanding nutrition.