This research exa
mined variation in che
mical co
mposition and nutrient quality of soybeans (SBs)and soybean
meals (SBMs) produced at seven co
mmercial extruder/expeller plants in the UnitedStates (experi
ment 1), as well as differences in a
mino acid digestibilities when roosters were fedSBMs extruded at 121, 135, 150, or 160
mages/entities/deg.gif">C at a U.S. pilot processing plant (experi
ment 2). Inexperi
ment 1, li
mited variation existed in the co
mposition of SBs arriving at the plants, whereassubstantial differences were noted in a
mino acid co
mposition and protein quality of the resultantSBMs. In experi
ment 2, the SBMs extruded at 121 and 135
mages/entities/deg.gif">C were underprocessed as noted byhigh urease activities and lower a
mino acid digestibilities. Soybean
meals extruded at 150 and 160
mages/entities/deg.gif">C resulted in higher a
mino acid digestibilities and lower urease activities, indicating adequateprocessing. Large variation exists in the nutritional quality of extruder/expeller SBMs currently in the
marketplace. Opti
mal processing te
mperatures should be >135
mages/entities/deg.gif">C, and te
mperatures as high as165
mages/entities/deg.gif">C do not result in overprocessing.