Enzymes in Poultry Nutrition:
The use of enzymes in animal feed is of great importance.
nonconventional feed ingredients have to be used which
contain higher percentage of Non-Starch Polysaccharides
(soluble and insoluble/crude fiber) along with starch.
Non-Starch Polysaccharides (NSPs) are polymeric
carbohydrates which differ in composition and structure
from starch (Morgan et al., 1995) and possess chemical cross
linking among them therefore, are not well digested by
poultry (Adams and Pough, 1993; Annison, 1993).
A part of these NSPs is water-soluble
which is notorious for forming a gel like
viscous consistency in the intestinal tract
(Ward, 1995) thus by reducing gut
performance.
• Poultry do not produce enzymes for the
hydrolysis of Non-Starch Polysaccharide
present in the cell wall of the grains and
they remain un-hydrolyzed.
• This results in low feed efficiency. Research
work has suggested that the negative effects
of NSPs can be overcome by dietary
modifications including supplementation of
diets with suitable exogenous enzyme
preparations (Creswell, 1994). Enzymes
break down the NSPs, decreases intestinal
viscosity and eventually improve the
digestibility of nutrients by improving gut
performance.
• Feeding enzymes to poultry is one of the major
nutritional advances in the last fifty years.
• It is the culmination of something that
nutritionists realized for a long time but until
1980's it remained beyond their reach.
• Indeed, the theory of feed enzymes is simple.
Plants contain some compounds that either the
animal can not digest, or which hinder its
digestive system, often because the animal can
not produce the necessary enzyme to degrade
them.
• Nutritionists can help the animal by identifying
these indigestible compounds and feeding a
suitable enzyme.
• These enzymes come from microorganisms that
are carefully selected for the task and grown
under controlled conditions (Wallis, 1996).
• The poultry industry readily accepts
enzymes as a standard dietary component,
especially in wheat and barley-based
rations.
• But still many questions are partially
answered. For example, how do enzymes
work?
• What is the link between gut viscosity,
enzyme action and growth rates? and are
enzymes necessary in all poultry rations?
• Enzymes: Enzymes are one of the many types of
protein in biological systems. Their essential
characteristic is to catalyze the rate of a
reaction but is not themselves altered by it.
• Enzymes are not living organisms and are not
concerned about viability or cross infection. They
are stable at 80-85 degree centigrade for short
time.
• Enzymes Used in Poultry Feeds
Enzymes Substrate
ß-glucanases Barley Oats
Xylanases Wheat, Rye, Triticale Rice
bran
ß-galactosidases Grain legumes
Phytases Plant feedstuffs
Proteases Proteins
Lipases Lipids
Amylases Starch
Benefits of Enzymes
• Benefits of using feed enzymes to poultry
diets include:
• reduction in digesta viscosity
• enhanced digestion and absorption of
nutrients especially fat and protein
• improved Apparent Metabolizable Energy
(AME) value of the diet
• increased feed intake, weight gain, and feed
gain ratio
• altered population of microorganisms in
gastrointestinal tract
• reduced water intake, reduced water
content of excreta
• reduced production of ammonia from
excreta
• reduced output of excreta, including
reduced N and P
(Gracia, et al., 2003; Wang et al., 2005).
Enzymes as a feed additive
The use of exogenous feed enzymes in poultry is an important
solution to overcome the adverse effects of anti-nutritional
factors and improve productive performance of poultry
(Ravindran 2013).
Exogenous carbohydrases reduced nonstarch polysaccharide-
induced digesta viscosity by minimizing molecular weight
carbohydrate, currently, enzymes were added in animal feed to
increase the nutritional value of feed ingredients. Therefore
improving nutrient utilization (Slominski 2011).
• Use of feed enzymes to improve the utilization of
nutrients in raw materials and to reduce feed cost.
• Improvements in nutrient availability are
achieved by one or more of the following
mechanisms:
• degradation of specific bonds in ingredients not
usually degraded by endogenous digestive
enzymes.
• degradation of anti-nutritive factors that lower
the availability of nutrients.
• increased accessibility of nutrients to
endogenous digestive enzymes.
Figure 1 – Relationship between nutrient level/feed
cost and performance/revenue.
(Waller, 2007)
Reduce nutrient excretion
By improving
nutrient utilization
Efficiency of nutrient utilization:
Dry matter 70%
Gross energy 75%
Nitrogen
55%
Phosphorus
45%
The concept of “gut health” recognized as a key driver of animal
performance. Digestion
Functions of gastrointestinal system
and Immunity
Absorption
The health of (GIT) affect on
Digestion, absorption
Metabolism of nutrients,
Disease resistance
Immune response.
Subsequently achieving optimal production of meat or eggs.
Yegani and Korver, (2008)
Soybean meal
Corn
16% of insoluble
8% of insoluble NSP
NSP
NSP
Intestinal viscosity
Nutrient
digestibility
FCR
Performance
Exogenous carbohydrases reduced NSP by minimizing molecular weight to increase the
nutritional value of feed ingredients. Therefore improving nutrient utilization to reduce
feed cost
Irish and Balnave (1993); Meng et al. (2005) ;Choct (2006) and Slominski (2011)
Feed enzymes
