Effects of the Addition of <i>Trichoderma reesei</i> Cellulase to Broiler Chicken Diets for a 21-Day Period

The cellulose present in the cell wall of vegetables prevents the greater release of nutrients to the animal. Therefore, the use of the cellulase enzyme is a viable strategy as it is capable of breaking cellulose bonds, releasing nutrients such as glucose, increasing dietary energy, and thus improving the productive performance of birds. <i>Trichoderma reesei</i> is efficient in the production of cellulase, which is produced via submerged fermentation followed by purification, formulation, and drying. Therefore, an experiment was carried out using 240 male broilers of the Cobb-500^® lineage to verify the effects resulting from the addition of powdered (500 g/t and 1000 g/t) and liquid (500 mL/t) cellulase over a period of 1 to 21 days. A completely randomized experimental design was used, consisting of four treatments with six replications and ten birds per replication that were housed in an experimental cage. It was observed that performance and digestibility results were significantly different with cellulase supplementation. Also, the relative weight of the large intestine in the period between one and seven days increased when cellulase was added at 1000 g/t. In the period of between eight and 14 days of life, the birds that consumed only the basal diet obtained higher levels of liver protein than those that received the treatments with the addition of the enzyme. However, 15 and 21 days, the consumed feed effect did not occur between thus, it is not conclusive whether hepatotoxicity occurs with the addition of cellulase. For the blood parameters, at 21 days, the diets with added cellulase were not significantly different regarding electrolytes. It was concluded that this cellulase produced by <i>Trichoderma reesei</i> can be included in the animals’ diet.