Soares et al., 2004. Rev. Bras. Zootec., 33 (6. Suppl. 1): 1768-1776

The use of defatted corn germ meal (DCGM) in growing and finishing diets of pigs was evaluated in two experiments. The first experiment was a digestibility test with two treatments and four replicates. Eight pigs were allocated in metabolic cages for 12 days. Faeces and urine samples were collected. The second experiment aimed to evaluate the performance during the growing I (20 to 50 kg liveweight), growing II (50 to 80 kg liveweight) and finishing (80 to 100 kg liveweight) phases given different levels of DCGM. A total of 48 crossbred pigs were used (24 barrows and 24 females) for 612.2 days. The experimental design was based on random block with 4 treatments and 6 repetitions. Each repetition was represented for two pigs. The treatments were represented by inclusion of 0, 10, 20 and 30% DCGM in the diet during the growing and finishing phases. All animals were slaughtered and submitted to an electronic carcass evaluation at the end of the experiment. Backfat depth, muscle depth, carcass yield, lean meat percentage and kilogram of lean meat were evaluated. An economic analysis by different treatments was realized. The digestible and metabolizable energy values of DCGM were 2.097 and 2.078 kcal/kg, respectively. There was a linear effect of DCGM inclusion on the daily feed intake (Y=2.80335-0.01709X) and daily weight gain (Y=2.788-0.0132383X) during the growing II phase and on daily feed intake (Y=3.02077-0.0193317X) during the finishing phase. Daily weight gain and carcass characteristics were not affected by DCGM levels. The economical parameters were not influenced by DCGM inclusion. The DCGM can be included in growing and finishing feeds for swine up to 30%.