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Abstract
1. The supplementation of diets rich in soluble polysaccharides with microbial cellulases and hemicellulases decreases digesta viscosity and promotes broiler performance.
2. In contrast, recent experiments suggest that polysaccharidases are ineffective for improving the nutritive value of pasture biomass used by free-range broilers. However, the feasibility of using cellulases and hemicellulases to improve the utilisation of cereal-based feeds by pastured poultry remains to be established.
3. A study was undertaken to investigate the capacity of a recombinant cellulase from Clostridium thermocellum to improve the nutritive value of a barley-based feed for free-range pastured broilers of the RedBro Cou Nu × RedBro M genotype.
4. The results show that supplementation of a barley-based diet with a recombinant β-glucanase had no effect on the performance of free-range broilers, foraging in legume-based diets from d 28 to 56. In addition, the results confirm that the lack of effect of the recombinant enzyme in improving the nutritive value of the barley-based feed does not result from enzyme proteolysis or inhibition in the gastrointestinal tract.
5. Significantly, β-glucanase activity was identified in the crop of non-supplemented animals. The data suggest that endogenous cellulases originated both from the barley-based feed and from the crop microflora.
6. The results presented here suggest that in older birds of slow-growing genotypes associated with free-range production systems, previously unknown sources of β-glucanases, such as the feed and microbial symbiotic microflora, can affect the effectiveness of exogenous enzymes added to the feed.
Acknowledgements
We thank Sociedade Agrícola da Quinta da Freiria SA for supplying the 28-d-old broilers used in these experiments. This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (POCI/CVT/61162/2004 and POCI/CVT/69329/2006). P.P. and C.G. were supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia through grants SFRH/BD/17969/2004 and SFRH/BD/16731/2004, respectively.