1. Nutritional Value

The lupine belongs to the legume family, which is similar to soybean in appearance and size and has speckles in peel. The lupine is different from soybean since no extra heat treatment is needed when the lupine is used for monogastric animals or ruminants. The original lupines, after being broken by hammer mill, can be used together with feed. In order to improve the utilization rate of lupine as to monogastric animals, the lupine should be peeled because the content of protein and energy in peeled lupine rises obviously. 

1)      Protein and amino acid

The average content of protein in white lupine is 32%, which rises to 36%-39% in peeled lupine. After the lupine is peeled, the content of crude fiber is reduced to 3% from original 15%, but the content of energy, amino acid and protein greatly increases. This will be a great contribution to production of dairy cows and sheep wool.

2)      Energy

    All ingredients of lupine can be easily digested by ruminants; the digestibility reaches about 90% as there are fewer substances to limit the digestibility of fibers. The high digestibility and fat content will result in high energy, which causes the lupine to be higher than most cereal in energy content.

3)      Fatty acid

    The fat content in lupine is higher than that in general cereal crops and leguminous crops. The lupine is comparable to soybean in terms of capability of making fatty acid.

4)      Minerals

The content of minerals in lupine slightly varies with the cultivation area; the lupine produced in Australia is very safe in heavy metal.

5)      Anti-nutritional factors

It is reported that the lupine contains no harmful substance to livestock. In addition, the lupine contains fewer anti-nutritional factors, hence it is very safe. For soybean and most leguminous crops, the heat treatment is needed so as to damage the digestive enzyme inhibitory factors which reduce utilization rate of protein. But the lupine doesnt need such heat treatment.

2. Feed Value for Fowl and Livestock

    1) Chicken

The lupine has been regarded as the best raw material for chicken feed. The energy content in white lupine is slightly lower than that in soybean meal, however, the energy content in peeled white lupine is higher than that in soybean meal and the content of protein and amino acid in peeled white lupine also increases greatly. Therefore, the lupine is of higher utilization value in chicken feed.

2) Pigs

The lupine is better for pig feed because it contains high energy and suitable amount of protein and amino acid. The lupine is favored by pigs, and contains no hindrance factors. As per Australian livestock feed standard, the recommended content of lupine in pig feed is 10-35%.

According to the test, the peeled lupine can be used as the source of high-quality protein and it is feasible to add 20% lupine to pig feed.

3) Cattle

The lupine has been taken as high-quality source of energy and protein in dairy cow breeding and fattening cattle feed. For ruminants, the lupines contain the carbohydrate easily fermented in ruminant stomach and accordingly have high energy metabolism. The lupine is safe feed for cattle, and no extra adaptive phase is needed. For its use as cattle feed, the lupine should be crushed into 2-3 pieces or pulverized by hammer mill so that the microorganisms in ruminant stomach penetrate easily through the lupine and facilitate the digestion.

According to the report, the lupine as dairy cow feed can maintain high fat content of milk. The lupine is also appraised as ideal raw material for cattle feed, and the lupine slices can help to improve the intermixture quality of fat and lean (fat distribution) in cattle beef.

3. Conclusion

It has been more than 20 years since the lupine was introduced to China; so far the lupine has become the essential source of protein and energy for domestic formula feed, it holds a very important position and also gets considerable development in quantity. The peeled lupine and the peel can exert respective strong points to maximize the use of lupine. The peeled lupine has higher protein content and energy content, hence is used to substitute vegetable meals like soybean meal in chicken feed and pig feed. Especially the inherent golden color of lupines will bring fresh feeling of formula feed to raisers. In addition, although the lupines dont need heat treatment, in order to improve the digestibility, the lupines are generally processed into slices for use as cattle feed. Presently the lupines are being cultivated at the Australian green zone by use of NON-GMO species for gene manipulation. The high-quality fresh lupines are being supplied to China steadily. People are expected to fully use lupines for livestock and feed industries to reduce the production cost of formula feed and accordingly help livestock raisers increase their income.