Enzymes are an active substance produced by organisms and catalysts for various biochemical reactions in the body. The digestion, absorption and utilization of various nutrients must depend on the action of enzymes. Enzymes have the characteristics of specificity, high efficiency and specificity. At present, there are thousands of enzymes found, more than 300 kinds can be produced artificially, and more than 20 kinds are used in the feed industry. Bioactive methods are used to produce active enzyme products, called enzyme preparations. Enzyme preparations are a kind of feed additives widely used in feed in recent years, most of which are digestive enzymes. Enzyme preparation can effectively improve feed utilization rate, save feed material resources, and has no side effects, so it is an environmentally friendly green feed additive with a broad market prospect and application potential.
The Main Types of Enzyme Feed Additives
Amylase. Amylase mainly includes α-amylase and saccharification enzyme. Alpha-amylase can decompose starch macromolecules into easily absorbed medium and low molecular substances. The saccharification enzyme can further hydrolyze the medium and low molecular substances decomposed by α-amylase into glucose, which is absorbed and utilized by animals.
Protease. Proteases are hydrolytic enzymes that degrade protein peptide chains, mainly including pepsin, trypsin, papain, etc.
Cellulase. Cellulase can destroy the crystalline structure of cellulose, hydrolyze cellulose macromolecules into oligosaccharide fragments, and decompose oligosaccharide materials into glucose.
β-glucanase. Beta-glucan is widely present in a variety of plant raw materials, and has a high viscosity. It is an important antioxidant factor that affects the transmission and absorption of nutrients. Beta-glucanase can hydrolyze large molecules such as glucan, reduce the viscosity of substances in the digestive tract, and promote the absorption of nutrients. β-glucanase is an important and widely used enzyme in feed additives for enzyme preparations.
Pectinase. Pectin is an anti-nutritional factor in plant raw materials, which affects the utilization rate of feed. Pectinase can effectively destroy pectin quality and promote the digestion and absorption of nutrients. Pectinase is also a more commonly used feed enzyme preparation.
Phytase. The vast majority of phosphorus in cereals is in the form of phytate phosphorus. Animals do not secrete phytase, so the utilization rate of phosphorus in cereals is low. By adding phytase secreted by microorganisms in the feed, this part of phosphorus can be decomposed and released, thereby reducing the amount of inorganic phosphorus added to the feed and reducing the cost of feed. And it can reduce the excretion of phosphorus in animal feces and reduce environmental pollution. It is a green feed additive with more applications and the best prospects.
Compound enzyme. A compound enzyme is a product obtained by mixing two or more enzymes with biological activity. The compound enzyme is formulated according to the characteristics of different animals and different growth stages, has a good effect, and is currently the most commonly used feed additive.
The Role of Enzyme Feed Additives
Direct decomposition of nutrients, improve feed utilization. Active multiple enzymes can effectively decompose and digest some molecular polymers in feed into nutrients easily absorbed by animals, or into small fragments of nutrients for further digestion by other digestive enzymes. Some macromolecular substances are difficult for animals to decompose and absorb, so adding enzyme preparations can promote the decomposition and digestion of nutrients in feed, thereby improving feed utilization.
Eliminate anti-nutritional molecules and improve digestive function. There are some non-starch polysaccharides, pectin, phytic acid, and cellulose polymers in plant raw materials. These substances increase the content and viscosity of the animal’s digestive tract, affecting the animal’s digestion and absorption of effective nutrients. Various enzymes in enzyme preparations, especially β-glucanase, pectinase, phytase and cellulase can decompose these substances into small molecules. Thereby reducing the viscosity of substances in the digestive tract, and effectively eliminate the adverse effects of these anti-nutritional factors, improve the digestive performance of animals.
Due to the use of enzyme preparations, more substrates for various enzymes can be provided, thereby activating the secretion of various digestive enzymes in the animal body to increase the effective content of digestive enzymes. And accelerate the digestion and absorption of nutrients, thereby improving feed utilization and accelerating animal metabolism, and promote animal growth.