Production and evaluation of biodegraded feather meal using immobilised and crude enzyme from Bacillus subtilis on broiler chickens

Abstract

The management of solid wastes has been a major concern to many cities of the world due to daily increasing ruralurban migration and globalization. Due to a greater consumption of poultry meat, the disposal of feather wastes has contributed to the daily increasing environmental pollution. Agricultural wastes (such as poultry feathers) are disposed by burning, which consequently constitute environmental pollution and their chemical or mechanical conversion into animal feed normally leads to minimization of amino acids. The application of biotechnology through the utilisation of enzymes is considered an easy and inexpensive means of producing valuable products from poultry feather wastes. Bacillus subtilis was isolated from a dumping site and the plates were incubated on nutrient agar. The treatments containing 200 mL each of crude enzyme, immobilized enzyme and sterilized water were added to the bioreactor for biodegradation of chicken feathers. After hydrolysis, the feathers were dried and the products labelled microbial biodegraded feather meal. The effect of temperature, keratinolytic activity and the influence of the immobilised and crude enzyme-degraded feather meal on broiler chickens were assessed. The optimal activity and biodegradative potential of the keratinolytic enzyme was observed as 45 °C and 48 h after fermentation, respectively. The weight gain of the birds fed immobilised enzyme-degraded feather meal-based diet compared with the control. The enzymedegraded feather meal is safe for inclusion in broilers' diet and slight feeding manipulations could improve their performance.

Use of chicken feather meal fermented with Bacillus subtilis in diets to increase the digestive enzymes activity and nutrient digestibility of silver pompano Trachinotus blochii (Lacepede, 1801)

“…These cells produce mucus, which has a role in facilitating absorption and transportation of feed molecules through membranes, as well as providing protection against micro-organisms in the intestine 31 . The test feed containing 10% FFM was seen to be absorbed by the intestine of silver pompano 9 . Feather protein degraded by the B. subtilis enzyme could be digested and effectively absorbed by the intestines of broiler chickens, and did not damage their intestinal function.…”

“…Measuring the performance of feed absorption in fish digestive systems involves observing the histological structure of the intestine, which is an important organ responsible for digestion and absorption 9 . In addition, feed of good quality is not only based on the nutritional constituents, but also on other components that aid easy digestion and absorption.…”

Agricultural Solid Wastes: Causes, Effects, and Effective Management

“…Feathers can be used in erosion control, for diaper filling, as biodegradable composites, in the greenhouse industry, animal feeds, upholstery, artwork, paper alternatives, light-weight structural materials, water filtration fibers, fabric, aircraft, and automotive industries and thermal insulation [43,44]. The major limitation to the use of feathers as a livestock feed ingredient is the insoluble keratinous protein, but recent studies are suggesting ways of overcoming the limitation [36,42,45]. It has been documented that about 80% of kitchen wastes, largely food wastage are fed to pigs in China, although direct feeding of kitchen waste has not been without restriction in China, arising from the concern of foot and mouth disease [46] Processing of agricultural solid wastes could enhance their value for feeding pigs [47,48].…”