Table 2.

The effects of addition of calcium pyruvate to low-protein diets on the nitrogen balance in pigs

	Treatments1			SEM	P
	I	II	III
Intake of N (g/d)	44.5a	39.1b	35.4c	0.66	<0.001
Fecal N (g/d)	9.31a	7.49b	6.36c	0.18	<0.001
Urinary N (g/d)	13.2a	10.3b	7.80c	0.20	<0.001
Total N excretion (g/d)	22.5a	17.8b	14.2c	0.37	<0.001
Retention of N (g/d)	22.0	21.3	21.2	0.36	0.399
Fecal N/N intake (%)	20.9a	19.2b	18.0c	0.19	<0.001
Urinary N/N intake (%)	29.7a	26.3b	22.0c	0.21	<0.001
Total N excretion/N intake (%)	50.6a	45.5b	40.0c	0.34	<0.001
Fecal N/N excretion (%)	41.4a	42.1ab	44.9b	0.25	<0.001
Urinary N/N excretion (%)	58.6a	57.9ab	55.1b	0.25	<0.001
Retention of N/N intake (%)	49.4a	54.5b	60.0c	0.34	<0.001

Data are presented as mean ± SEM (n = 6). SEM = standard error of means.

¹I, control group (18% CP); II, group of 15.0% CP + 0.6% calcium pyruvate; III, group of 13.5% CP + 1.8% pyruvate.

^a–cValues within a row with different superscripts differ significantly (P < 0.05).