The British journal of nutrition
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The effect of dietary protein content (25, 60, 95, 130, 165 and 200 g crude protein (N x 6.25)/kg diet) on the apparent and true ileal digestibilities of N and amino acids in meat-and-bone meal given to the growing rat was investigated. Semi-synthetic diets in which meat-and-bone meal was the sole protein source were given to 180 g body-weight rats for 14 d. On the fourteenth day the rats were fed and then killed 4 h after the start of feeding and digesta were sampled from the terminal 200 mm ileum. ⋯ The mean apparent ileal digestibility of N in meat-and-bone meal ranged from 65.6 to 75.3%. The corresponding range for the true ileal digestibility of N was 76.9 to 78.2%. True ileal digestibility, unlike apparent digestibility, appears to be independent of dietary protein level and may allow feed ingredients to be compared accurately even if they are ingested in different quantities.