The Effects of Enzyme Complex on Performance, Intestinal Health and Nutrient Digestibility of Weaned Pigs

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of supplementing a corn-soybean meal-based diet with an enzyme complex containing amylase, protease and xylanase on the performance, intestinal health, apparent ileal digestibility of amino acids and nutrient digestibility of weaned pigs. In Exp. 1, 108 piglets weaned at 28 d of age were fed one of three diets containing 0 (control), 100, or 150 ppm enzyme complex for 4 wks, based on a two-phase feeding program namely 1 to 7 d (phase 1) and 8 to 28 d (phase 2). At the end of the experiment, six pigs from the control group and the group supplemented with 150 ppm enzyme complex were chosen to collect digesta samples from intestine to measure viscosity and pH in the stomach, ileum, and cecum, as well as volatile fatty acid concentrations and composition of the microflora in the cecum and colon. There were linear increases (p<0.01) in weight gain, gain: feed ratio and digestibility of gross energy with the increasing dose rate of enzyme supplementation during the whole experiment. Supplementation with enzyme complex increased the digesta viscosity in the stomach (p<0.05) and significantly increased (p<0.01) the concentrations of acetic, propionic and butyric acid in the cecum and colon. Enzyme supplementation also significantly increased the population of Lactobacilli (p<0.01) in the cecum and decreased the population of E. coli (p<0.05) in the colon. In Exp. 2, six crossbred barrows (initial body weight: 18.26±1.21 kg), fitted with a simple T-cannula at the distal ileum, were assigned to three dietary treatments according to a replicated 3×3 Latin Square design. The experimental diets were the same as the diets used in phase 2 in Exp. 1. Apparent ileal digestibility of isoleucine (p<0.01), valine (p<0.05) and aspartic acid (p<0.05) linearly increased with the increasing dose rate of enzyme supplementation. In conclusion, supplementation of the diet with an enzyme complex containing amylase, protease and xylanase improved piglet performance. This is likely a result of improvement in nutrient digestibility, volatile fatty acid concentrations and bacteria ratio in the large intestine.

Effect of protease on growth performance and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs

“…In the results of in vitro tests, the addition of enzyme complexes (xylanase, protease and phytase) tended to increase the ileal digestibility of dry matter, even though it depended on test ingredients (Kong et al, 2015). Other studies also showed that enzyme mixtures including protease had a positive impact on nutrient digestibility, bacterial populations in the large intestine, and growth performance of weaned pigs (Yi et al, 2013), faecal nutrient digestibility of growing pigs (Ji et al, 2008), and the performance of growing pigs without improving apparent total tract digestibility (Jo et al, 2012). Recently, standalone proteases of swine diets have been used via several commercially available products (Guggenbuhl et al, 2012;Mc Alpine et al, 2012a, 2012bZuo et al, 2015).…”

Effects of exogenous phytase and xylanase, individually or in combination, and pelleting on nutrient digestibility, available energy content of wheat and performance of growing pigs fed wheat-based diets

“…Xylanase supplementation has achieved inconsistent results [10,39]. In the present experiment, xylanase addition tended to improve CP digestibility and increased NDF digestibility.…”

The microbial pH-stable exogenous multienzyme improved growth performance and intestinal morphology of weaned pigs fed a corn–soybean-based diet

“…Therefore, it may be beneficial to use a multienzyme preparation containing carbohydrases, protease, and phytase. Thus far, the use of exogenous enzymes to degrade NSP in corn-SBM-based diets has yielded inconsistent results, mainly because enzyme activities do not effectively hydrolyse the NSP present in corn and SBM (Willamil et al 2012;Yi et al 2013). However, Omogbenigun et al (2004) suggested that a combination of various enzyme activities is required to degrade complex NSP and improve nutrient utilization in pigs.…”

“…It has been reported that a combination of different enzyme activities is required for complete degradation of complex NSP and to improve nutrient utilization in pigs (Ji et al 2008;Jo et al 2012). Results of several experiments have indicated that dietary supplementation of multienzyme preparations can improve the growth performance and nutrient digestibility in pigs (Omogbenigun et al 2004;Yi et al 2013). Enzymes are beneficial to digest NSP in the diet if they can pass the stomach acidic environment.…”