Do feed enzymes improve the nutritive value of soybean meal in broiler diets?

Abstract

Two feed enzymes (Enzyme A, a multi-activity glycanase and Enzyme B, an experimental product containing mainly galactanase) were added at the recommended level and five times above this level to broiler diets containing soyabean meal (SBM) as the sole protein source. Enzyme B at both inclusion levels and Enzyme A at the high dosage improved (P<0.05) the apparent metabolisable energy (AME) of the diet but not the growth rate or the feed conversion ratio (FCR) of the birds. Both enzymes increased the amount of free sugars in the ileum. However, the increase was only significant (P<0.05) when enzymes were added at the high dosage. The addition of both enzymes reduced (P<0.05) the concentration of insoluble non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) in the ileum, whereas the concentration of soluble NSP was only reduced (P<0.05) when Enzyme B was added.