The Active Role of Spray-Dried Phytase Produced by Rhizopus microsporus var. microsporus Biofilm in Feeding Broiler Chickens

Objective: Phytases are enzymes that can catalyze the hydrolysis of phytic acid, and have potential for use in the formulation of broiler chickens’ diets. As such, we evaluated the effects of supplementation of broiler chicken diets with a spraydried phytase derived from the fungal Rhizopus microsporus var. microsporus biofilm on the animal performance.

Methods: Cobb 500 male chicks were housed for 42 days under controlled environment conditions and provided with three different dietary regimes. These included a control diet meeting nutritional requirements, a diet with phosphorus reduction of 0.175% over days 1-21 and 0.225% over days 22-42, and diets with spray-dried phytase added at 250 FTU/kg, 500 FTU/kg and 750 FTU/kg. Animal performance was assessed based on their body weight, feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion rate, and viability.

Results: At the first phase of development (1-21 days of age), performance was not improved by phytase addition, but at the latter phase (22-42 days of age); performance improved significantly, especially in birds fed phytase at 750 FTU/ kg. In addition, phytase promoted an increase in villous height for animals of both 21- and 42 day-old animals, improving nutrient absorption and performance at the end phase of development.

Conclusion: Phytase supplementation positively affected animal development and jejunum morphology, highlighting its potential to be used as an additive for broiler chicken diet formulation.

Author(s): Vanessa Sayuri Sato, Gabriel Vilella Dessimoni Pinto, Cecilia Maria Costa do Amara, Ana Rosa Crisci, Wanderley Pereira de Oliveira and Luis Henrique Souza Guimarães

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