Efficacy of a novel multi-enzyme feed additive on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and gut microbiome of weanling pigs fed corn-wheat or wheat-barley-based diet.

One-hundred-and-ninety-two weanling pigs (6.7 kg body weight) were used to evaluate the impact of a carbohydrases-protease enzyme complex (CPEC) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and gut microbiome. Pigs were assigned to one of the four dietary treatments for 42 d according to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of diet type (low fiber [LF] or high fiber [HF]) and CPEC supplementation (0 or 170 mg/kg diet). The LF diet was prepared as corn-wheat-based diet while the HF diet was wheat-barley-based and contained wheat middlings and canola meal. Each dietary treatment consisted of 12 replicate pens (six replicates per gender) and four pigs per replicate pen. Over the 42-d period, there was no interaction between diet type and CPEC supplementation on growth performance indices of pigs. Dietary addition of CPEC improved (P < 0.05) the body weight of pigs at days 28 and 42 and the gain-to-feed ratio of pigs from days 0 to 14. During the entire experimental period, dietary CPEC supplementation improved (P < 0.05) the average daily gain and gain-to-feed ratio of pigs. There were interactions between diet type and CPEC supplementation on apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter (DM; P < 0.01), gross energy (GE; P < 0.01), and neutral detergent fiber (NDF; P < 0.05) at d 42. Dietary CPEC addition improved (P < 0.05) ATTD of DM, GE, and NDF in the HF diets. At day 43, dietary CPEC addition resulted in improved (P < 0.05) apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of NDF and interactions (P < 0.05) between diet type and CPEC supplementation on AID of DM and crude fiber. Alpha diversity indices including phylogenetic diversity and observed amplicon sequence variants of fecal microbiome increased (P < 0.05) by the addition of CPEC to the HF diets on day 42. An interaction (P < 0.05) between diet type and CPEC addition on Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index and Unweighted UniFrac distances was observed on day 42. In conclusion, CPEC improved weanling pig performance and feed efficiency, especially in wheat-barley diets, while dietary fiber composition had a more significant impact on fecal microbial communities than CPEC administration. The results of this study underscores carbohydrase's potential to boost pig performance without major microbiome changes.

There is a pressing need to enhance livestock production efficiency to meet the growing global demand for meat. Carbohydrases and proteases are enzymes typically added to swine diets to improve nutrient utilization, leading to better growth rates and feed efficiency. This ultimately contributes to sustainable and economically viable pig farming. However, more research is required to better understand how carbohydrases and proteases interact with different diet types to optimize dietary formulations, and how this may influence gut microbiome composition. In this study, 192 weaner pigs (~7 kg) were assigned to a low-fiber diet or a high-fiber diet. Each diet type was with or without a carbohydrases and protease multi-enzyme supplementation. The results showed that adding a multi-enzyme combination to the pigs' diet significantly improved the pig's performance, regardless of diet type. Improvement in nutrient digestibility was more pronounced in pigs fed the high-fiber diet and that dietary fiber had a greater influence on the composition of fecal microbes. In essence, the study demonstrates that the multi-enzyme can boost pig growth and feed efficiency in diets with varying fiber complexity without causing significant changes in their gut microbiome.

Gastrointestinal dynamics, immune response, and nutrient digestibility of weanling pigs fed diets supplemented with enzymatically treated yeast1.

The objective of this trial was to investigate the effect of enzymatically treated yeast (ETY) on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, immune response, and gut health of weanling pigs. A total of 192 weanling pigs (6.0 ± 1.04 kg) were allocated to 4 corn and soybean-based diets with increasing concentrations of ETY (0, 1, 2, or 4 g/kg) for a 43-d trial. There were 8 replicate pens (4 replicate pens per sex) and 6 pigs per replicate. The experiment was set up as a randomized complete block design with body weight used as a blocking factor. Pigs had ad libitum access to water and diets for the duration of the study. There was no effect of ETY supplementation on the growth performance indices of weanling pigs. At day 14, there was a quadratic decrease (P < 0.05) in the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of acid detergent fiber (ADF). At day 28, there was a linear increase (P < 0.05) in the ATTD of neutral detergent fiber and a quadratic decrease (P < 0.05) in the ATTD of ADF. On day 14, there was a linear increase (P < 0.05) in serum catalase activity with ETY supplementation. There was a linear increase (P < 0.01) in the gene expression of glutathione peroxidase-4 in the ileal mucosa of pigs. Increasing dietary ETY supplementation linearly decreased (P < 0.05) the gene expression of ileal peptide transporter 1. There was a tendency for a quadratic effect (P = 0.07) in the ileal villus height to crypt depth ratio with ETY supplementation. In addition, there was a tendency for a linear increase (P = 0.06) in ileal digesta butyrate with ETY supplementation. In conclusion, the current study demonstrated that dietary ETY supplementation could partly ameliorate the deleterious effects of post-weaning stress by enhancing the antioxidative status of weanling pigs. However, prolonged supplementation of ETY may be needed to see its effect on growth performance.

The post-weaning stage is fraught with challenges that could affect piglet lifetime growth, development, and gut health. Various factors predispose pigs to stress after weaning. These factors include the separation of piglets from the sow, temperature changes, crowding stress, exposure to new animals, and dietary and environmental antigens. With the increased search for antibiotic alternatives in weanling pigs, identifying potential health-promoting feed additives is exigent. Enzymatically treated yeast (ETY) is rich in bioactive components, including immune-stimulating glucans, mannans, and peptides. These may confer beneficial effects on pigs during the post-weaning period. In this study, ETY was supplemented in graded levels in the diet of weanling pigs. Our results showed that dietary ETY supplementation influenced gut health by promoting a better antioxidant status in weanling pigs.