Experiments have demonstrated that inclusion of unmolassed sugar beet pulp (SBP) in diets for pigs gives rise to a major restriction in voluntary food intake in comparison with other high fibre materials (Brouns et al, 1991; Gill et al, 1992). The mechanisms for this are still not fully understood but appear to be related to the nature of the non-starch polysaccharides. SBP has a relatively high pectin content, so this experiment was designed to investigate whether another similar pectin containing material, citrus pulp (CIT), has similar intake regulating properties and whether these could be modified by treatment with a pectinase enzyme.

The design was a split plot experiment with two dietary treatments. Each diet was manufactured, with and without enzyme, giving the following treatments: (1) Citrus pulp diet - no enzyme [CIT-]; 2) Citrus pulp diet - with enzyme [CIT + ]; 3) Sugarbeet pulp diet - no enzyme [SBP-]; 4) Sugarbeet pulp diet - with enzyme [SBP + ]. The experimental treatments were applied in a crossover design with 8 pigs receiving each diet both with and without enzyme.