Effect of xylanase and β-glucanase on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in piglets fed wheat-barley-based diets

There is increasing interest in the use of exogenous enzymes to improve diet digestibility and performance of pigs fed mixed grain-based diets. The potential of combination of carbohydrase (xylanase and β-glucanase) to enhance nutrient digestibility and performance was examined in the present study using 160 crossbred pigs (Landrace×Large White) of initial mean BW of 7.4kg. Pigs were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments with 4 pigs per pen and 10 pens per diet for a 42-d feeding period. The diets were: Control (T1, 92% of DE requirement of NRC, 1998, with no enzymes), and control plus carbohydrase combination. The enzyme was added at 50 (T2), 100 (T3) and 200g/MT (T4). Celite was used as an indigestible marker and feed was available to pigs ad libitum. Pigs were weighed at 0, 3 and 6weeks of the experiment and fecal samples were collected for 3days at the end of week 5. On average, piglets grew 525g/d, consumed 845g/d, and exhibited mean FCR of 1.59. Weight gain and feed intake did not differ (P>0.05) among treatments, however, FCR for the overall period was better (P<0.05) for pigs fed diets supplemented with 200g/MT enzyme compared with those fed the control diet. The FCR for the overall period were 1.66, 1.59, 1.60 and 1.57 (SE=0.07) for T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively. Faecal digestibility of energy and protein did not differ (P>0.05) among treatments, however improvement in performance was observed, suggesting improved nutrient absorption in the ileum. Digestibility of NSP and of some individual sugars (arabinose, xylose, mannose and glucose) numerically increased (P>0.05) with enzyme supplemented diets relative to the control. The digestibility of NSP improved by 2.7 to 5.6% in the carbohydrase-supplemented compared to the control diet. It can be concluded that adding a specific proportions of blend of exogenous xylanase and β-glucanase enzymes to mixed grain-based diets improved performance in weaned pigs.