Energetic values and performace of broilers feeding sorghum and soybean meal based diets supplemented with B-glucanase and B-xylanase

Abstract

Grains, brans, and vegetable meals may contain non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), which increases viscosity in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and interfere with the digestion and absorption of nutrients. This study aimed to evaluate the performance and determine the metabolizable energy of a sorghum-based broiler diet with and without the supplementation of an enzymatic complex. The experiments were conducted in a completely randomized design with 1200 chickens, using sorghum-based feed with and without the addition of 50 g of enzyme-CCE complex (?-glucanase and ?-xylanase), and with two levels of metabolizable energy (ME kg-1): ME; ME + CCE; reduced ME (-50 kcal kg-1); and reduced ME + CCE. The data were subjected to an analysis of variance and the means were compared using a Tukey’s test at the 5% significance level. At 42 and 47 days of age, the living weight of the birds fed with the reduced ME was low, while birds fed with reduced ME + CCE had the same weight as those fed with other energy diets (ME and ME + CCE). Feed conversion was poorest at 47 days of age for the birds on reduced ME diet. In the metabolic test (with fattening diets) to determine AME and AMEn, the reduced ME diet had the lowest result, confirming the effect of the addition of enzymes. The addition of CCE to sorghum-based diets provides enough enzymatic activity to increase the metabolizable energy of the diet (50 kcal of AME) and influence the growth performance of broilers at the slaughtering age.