An experiment was performed to evaluate the chemical composition values and Apparent Metabolizable Energy corrected for nitrogen excretion (AMEn) of wheat grain harvested at different maturity stage (13, 16, 20 and 30% of humidity levels) and drying temperatures (40, 70 and 100 ºC). The grain with 13% of humidity level was considered dried at harvest and was not submitted to drying. The level of 16% of grain humidity at harvesting and the drying temperature of 40 ºC provided the highest AMEn wheat value (3326 kcal/kg, as fed basis). Harvesting humidity and drying temperature affected the nutritional value of wheat. It is necessary to know the best maturity stage at harvest and drying temperatures of wheat grains regarding the variability on its nutritive value and inclusion into poultry diets.
processing conditions; chickens; bushel weight; thousand grain weight; nutritive value
