Processed rapeseed meal shows better digestibility in growing pigs

A new paper in Animals adds fresh evidence that processing can make rapeseed meal more usable in pig diets. The study found that extrusion improved the ingredient’s physical structure and nutrient digestion in growing pigs, while extrusion combined with solid-state enzymatic hydrolysis produced the strongest overall improvement. The work addresses a long-running limitation of rapeseed meal: it is an attractive protein source, but its fiber content and anti-nutritional factors have constrained broader use in swine feeding programs. (mdpi.com)

That question has been building for years. Rapeseed meal and canola meal have been studied as partial replacements for soybean meal because they are widely available oilseed co-products and can support more regionally diversified feed formulations. But pigs, especially younger animals, are sensitive to the ingredient’s lower digestibility, higher fiber fraction, and glucosinolate-related anti-nutritional effects. Reviews of the literature have consistently pointed to processing, including extrusion, fermentation, and enzyme-based approaches, as the main path to improving utilization. (mdpi.com)

In this context, the new study compared unprocessed rapeseed meal with extruded rapeseed meal and with rapeseed meal that underwent extrusion plus solid-state enzymatic hydrolysis. According to the study summary, both processed ingredients showed increased surface porosity, suggesting structural disruption that could improve enzyme access during digestion. The combined treatment also reduced anti-nutritional constraints more effectively and improved nutrient digestion to a greater extent than extrusion alone. Those findings are directionally consistent with prior work showing that extrusion can reduce glucosinolate content and improve digestibility of nutrients and amino acids in rapeseed and canola meals fed to pigs. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

The enzymatic hydrolysis angle is notable because it builds on earlier two-step processing research. Previous studies have found that combining biological or enzymatic treatment with other processing steps can lower anti-nutritional factors and increase the proportion of smaller peptides, potentially improving protein availability. Separate work on fermented rapeseed meal in growing pigs has also shown improvements in nutrient digestibility and, in some cases, growth performance, reinforcing the idea that rapeseed meal’s limitations are at least partly process-dependent rather than fixed. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Industry reaction specific to this paper was limited in publicly available sources, but the broader expert view is clear: rapeseed meal remains a credible alternative protein ingredient if its variability and anti-nutritional profile can be managed. Reviews published in MDPI and elsewhere describe extrusion, enzyme treatment, and fermentation as complementary strategies for improving nutrient availability and reducing the performance penalties associated with higher inclusion rates. At the same time, older performance studies have shown mixed results, including cases where extrusion improved digestibility measures without delivering clear gains in feed intake, growth, or feed conversion. (mdpi.com)

Why it matters: For veterinarians and swine nutrition teams, this is less about a single ingredient tweak and more about formulation flexibility. If processing can reliably improve rapeseed meal digestibility, producers may have more room to reduce dependence on soybean meal, respond to ingredient price swings, and use local oilseed co-products more effectively. That could be especially relevant in systems balancing feed cost, sustainability goals, and nutrient precision. Still, the practical value will depend on consistency between batches, processing cost, and whether digestibility improvements hold up in commercial herds across different weight classes and health conditions. (mdpi.com)

What to watch: The key next questions are inclusion limits, economics, and scale. Researchers will need to show whether extrusion plus enzymatic hydrolysis improves not just digestibility coefficients, but also average daily gain, feed conversion, gut health outcomes, and return on feed cost under production conditions. Comparative work against other upgraded protein sources, including fermented rapeseed meal and processed soybean meal, will also help determine where this approach fits in commercial swine nutrition. (onlinelibrary.wiley.com)