Two experimentswere carried out to evaluate sunflower meal (SM) as swine feeding on growingand finishing phases. In experiment 1, eight barrows with 30.41kg liveweightwere allocated in metabolic individual cages to evaluate the digestibility ofsunflower meal. In experiment 2 a total of 48 pigs (24 barrows and 24 females),Large White x Landrace cross, were allotted to four treatments: diet withoutSM, diet with 7% of SM, diet with 14% of SM and diet with 21% of SM. The animalswere evaluated from 25.82kg to 92.33kg liveweight. Daily weight gain (DWG),daily feed intake (DFI) and feed gain ratio (FGR) were evaluated during fourperiods (growing I, growing II, finishing and total period). All animals wereslaughtered and submitted to an electronic carcass evaluation at the end ofthe experiment. The backfat depth (BP), muscle depth (MD), carcass weight (CW),lean meat percentage (LM), kilogram of lean meat (KLM) and carcass yield (CY)were evaluated. The digestible and metabolizable energy values of SM were 2171and 2036 kcal/kg, respectively. There were no regression effect on performancecharacteristics for the levels of SM. There were significant differences forsex factor. The barrows were better to DWG and DFI during the growing phaseII and total period. There were no regression effect on carcass characteristicsfor the levels of SM however, BD and CW characteristics were significantly greaterfor barrows than females. The rations cost was similar among treatments. Ininclusion, the rations up to 21% of SM for growing and finishing pigs, did notaffect performance and carcass characteristics.
