Animal Feed

 

The two main components of animal feed are:

• Plant materials e.g. maize, wheat and barley which provide carbohydrate energy sources
• Vegetable protein sources e.g. soya and other beans, peas, sunflower and lupin seeds

Phytase

 

Phytase enzymes are traditionally used in animal feeds to release phosphorus from phytic acid, the main store of phosphorus in plant material. Increasingly phytase enzymes are also being recognised for their ability to eliminate the anti-nutrient factor (ANF) of phytate from the diet. Analysis of phytase enzymes in animal feed is important for QC and QA purposes. ESC is able to offer a wide range of phytase analysis methods to best fit your requirements.

 

NSP-degrading enzymes

 

A large proportion of the energy content in cereals is present as non-starch polysaccharides (NSP). The NSP's such as arabinoxylans in wheat and rye, and ß-glucans in barley and oats, are soluble. This results in increased viscosity in the animal which impairs digestion. The addition of enzyme activities not present in the animal (xylanases and ß-glucanases) can overcome the ANF effects of NSP's. Such enzyme addition has become very popular and now, over 90% of global poultry diets containing viscous cereals such as wheat or barley are formulated with an NSP enzyme to degrade the polysaccharide ANF's.

 

Other Enzymes

 

Vegetable protein sources also contain ANF's. E.g. soya bean meal contains significant levels of galacto-oligosaccharides amongst other components. Addition of exogenous enzymes such as α-galactosidase can overcome the problems associated with these ANF's. The development of enzyme treatments to tackle ANF's in materials other than wheat and barley is of great interest and on-going.

 

At ESC, it is our belief that by careful examination of the ANF's in a particular feeding material, an enzyme system could be developed to enhance the nutritive value of that material.

 

Definition and measurement of enzyme activity are important considerations when using enzymes in animal feeding.

 

ESC has extensive experience in the animal feeding sector. Contact us for all your requirements including:

• Enzyme activity analysis for quality control
• New product development
• Enzyme stabilisation
• Raw material (feed) analysis
• Preparation of technical manuals and brochures
• Regulatory issues