U.S. Soybean Export Council has contracted with the Monogastric Research Centre, Massey University, in Palmerston North, New Zealand to determine nutritional value of soybean meals produced in different regions, with the aim of differentiating U.S. dehulled soybean meal from other suppliers of soybean meal. Representative samples of soybean meal were collected and analyzed, using standard methods, for moisture, crude protein, ash, crude fiber, ether extract, apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn ) and ileal digestible amino acids for broilers, contents of sugar, reactive lysine, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and non starch polysaccharides (NSP), protein solubility index and urease activity.

A preliminary report on the research was presented at the International Poultry Expo in Atlanta, GA. on January 25, 2012. The study will be expanded with additional samples, however, the initial report was reviling since there are differences between the soybean meals from various countries. These differences are probably due to differences in environment (weather conditions), genetics (varieties) and soybean meal processing procedures. The values are expressed on a dry matter basis, in order to make comparisons between samples of different origin.

US soybean meal had higher levels of crude protein, greater protein solubility, higher levels of total lysine, methionine, cysteine, valine and isoleucine; and lower levels of total glutamic acid. Reactive lysine and available amino acids were generally higher for U.S. soybean and significantly greater than the India soybean meal.

This study will be continued and more samples analyzed. Greater numbers of samples will provide greater reliability in the average values of the various nutrients and will reduce the standard deviations for the values. With more samples, the differences between the means will become more evident.