Supplementation of amylase or amylase + xylanase improves performance and metabolism of broilers fed with diets containing newly harvested maize

Abstract

How supplementation with amylase or amylase + xylanase in newly harvested maize-based diets affects broiler nutrient metabolism and performance is unclear. Thus, this study evaluated whether the supplementation of amylase (CN) or amylase + xylanase (CAX) improves performance and metabolism of broilers fed with newly harvested maize-based diets during a 6-week production. The results showed that the body weight gain of broilers fed with CA or CAX diet was higher than that with the control (CN) diet at 1–21 d of age; however, an opposite trend was observed for feed/gain (p < 0.05). Furthermore, 150, 64 and 35 different metabolites were found between CA/CN, CAX/CN and CAX/CA, respectively. Overall, amylase supplementation improved broiler growth performance at 1–21 d of age, and the positive effects of amylase on nutrient utilization were mostly related to nicotinate, retinol and glutathione metabolism improvement. Moreover, CAX diet increased apparent metabolizable energy and growth performance of broilers at 22–42 d of age, and the difference might be related to sphingolipid, porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism regulation. The findings prove amylase + xylanase supplementation is an effective method to improve the nutritional value of newly harvested maize for broilers.

Keywords:

• Amylase
• xylanase
• newly harvested maize
• broilers
• metabolism

Acknowledgements

This study was completed at Gansu Agricultural University (Lanzhou, Gansu, China). The authors thank Editage (www.editage.cn) for English language editing.

Ethical approval

The authors confirm that the ethical policies of the journal, as noted on the journal’s author guidelines page, have been adhered to and the appropriate ethical review committee approval has been received. The authors confirm that they have followed EU and USA standards for the protection of animals used for scientific purposes and feed legislation, if appropriate.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under [Grants 31660664 and 31702123] and Fuxi Young Talent Cultivation Project of Gansu Agricultural University under [Grant GAUFX-02Y07] and Discipline Team Project of Gansu Agricultural University (GAU-XKTD-2022-24).