Effects of dietary supplementation of an enzyme blend on the ileal and fecal digestibility of nutrients in growing pigs

¹ University of Illinois, Department of Animal Sciences, Urbana, IL 61801
² Agri-King, Inc., Fulton, IL 61252
³ Prince Agri Products, Quincy, IL 62306

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jepettig{at}uiuc.edu.

	Abstract

The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of a -glucanase/protease enzyme blend product (EBP) on fecal digestibility (FD), apparent ileal digestibility (AID), standardized ileal digestibility (SID), and digestibility in the hindgut of growing pigs. Twelve ileal-cannulated growing barrows (38.2 ± 0.5 kg) were housed in individual metabolism crates, blocked by previous feed intake to 3 groups with 4 pigs each, and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments within a square (group) of 3 replications of 4 x 4 Latin square. Treatments were basal diet (Basal), Basal + 0.05% of EBP (0.05% EBP), Basal + 0.10% of EBP (0.10% EBP), and hydrolyzed casein for measurement of endogenous amino acids. The Basal consisted of corn and soybean meal and was calculated to have 3.36 Mcal ME/kg and 1.1% of total lysine. Feed intake of each replicate of the squares during the first period was 85% of the minimum feed intake of the 4 pigs during the preliminary period and equalized within each square. The feeding level was increased by 100 g/d in each subsequent period. Each of the experimental periods was 14 d, including 4 d of dietary adaptation, 5 d of fecal collection, 3 d of transition period, and 2 d of ileal collection. Ileal effluents were collected continuously for the same 12-h interval each day. Pigs fed the EBP demonstrated increased (P < 0.05) FD of DM, OM, energy, CP, non-fiber carbohydrate, total dietary fiber, insoluble dietary fiber, acid-hydrolyzed fat, ash, Ca, and P compared to pigs fed Basal. The AID of NDF and hemicellulose was increased (P < 0.05) by supplying the EBP either at 0.05% or 0.10% in the diets, but AID of DM and energy was not increased. The AID of acid-hydrolyzed fat tended to be higher (P = 0.051) for the pigs fed the EBP than those fed the Basal. Ileal digestibility of most amino acids was not affected by treatment, but the EBP reduced the apparent and standardized digestibility of methionine, alanine, and serine (P < 0.05). The difference between FD and AID of hemicellulose was lower (P < 0.05) for the pigs fed the EBP than those fed Basal. These results demonstrated that the EBP fed to growing pigs improved the FD of DM, OM, energy, CP, non-fiber carbohydrate, total dietary fiber, acid-hydrolyzed fat, Ca, and P and the AID of NDF and hemicellulose, but the SID of amino acids was not improved by supplying the EBP in corn-soybean meal-based growing pig diets.

Key Words: digestibility, enzymes, growing pigs, nutrients