With the objective to evaluate available phosphorus levels in diets for swine genetically selected for meat deposition, sixty commercial hybrid pigs were used, being 30 castrate males and 30 females, with initial weight of 15.00 ± 0.41 kg, distributed in a completely randomized experimental design, with six treatments, five replications and two animals (1 male and 1 female) per experimental unit. The treatments were composed of a basal diet and other five diets obtained through basal diet supplementation with dicalcium phosphate to obtain six AP levels (0.114; 0.221; 0.328; 0.435; 0.542 and 0.649%). The available phosphorus levels promoted a linear increase in the daily feed intake. Daily weight gain and feed conversion showed a quadratic behavior according to AP levels, with the maximum response at 0.509 and 0.477% of AP in the diet, respectively. Bone strength and bone calcium and phosphorus contents also presented a quadratic behavior according to AP levels, with maximum response at 0.529; 0.619 and 0.596% of AP levels in the diet, respectively. There was no effect of the AP levels in the diets on the bone ash content. The best weight gain and feed conversion observe for castrated male and female pigs from 15 to 30 kg, genetically selected for meat deposition, is provided by 0.509 and 0.477% of available phosphorus levels, respectively, corresponding to daily intakes of 6.39 and 5.93 grams of available phosphorus.
genotype; minerals; nutrition; requirement
