Table 7.

Characteristics of metatarsal bones in weaned pigs fed diets containing graded levels of montmorillonite (d 28)¹

Items	Level of montmorillonite (%)					SEM	p value
	0.0	0.5	1.0	2.5	5.0		ANOVA	Linear	Quadratic
Weight (g)	22.3	22.4	22.0	20.9	21.2	2.57	0.81	0.26	0.53
Breaking strength (N)	305.2	270.0	268.3	294.3	302.8	46.99	0.50	0.75	0.26
Mineral content (% of ash)
Calcium (%)	18.82	18.45	18.75	18.90	19.26	1.48	0.91	0.47	0.64
Phosphorus (%)	8.49	8.37	8.37	8.48	8.43	0.68	0.99	0.99	0.97
Potassium (%)	0.27	0.21	0.19	0.18	0.12	0.04	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01
Sodium (%)	2.04	1.62	1.52	1.31	0.88	0.27	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01
Magnesium (%)	1.32	1.17	1.09	0.96	0.64	0.15	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01
Zinc (mg/g)	0.60	0.57	0.47	0.43	0.34	0.06	0.02	0.03	0.10
Iron (mg/g)	0.29	0.27	0.17	0.21	0.14	0.05	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01
Copper (mg/kg)	6.60	4.43	3.09	4.03	3.00	1.70	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01
Manganese (mg/kg)	11.09	8.78	7.91	6.34	4.75	1.65	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01

¹Values are the means of six replicates.