Poultry product’s consumption has risen over the years and demand will be more in developing countries. So the demand of feed and raw materials is the main concern of poultry industry. However maize and soyabean are the traditional feed ingredients but we can’t met the demand over the coming decades because feed remains the largest cost item in poultry production contributing to 60-70% of total expenses. Most of the ingredients used in poultry feed are also used for human nutrition, driving the costs up further. This leads to producers switching to local feed ingredients like sunflower meal, palm meal, wheat bran, rice bran, groundnut cake etc, which can adversely affect birds’ health and growth. Feed additives are seeing an increasing role in poultry nutrition as ways to improve feed utilization and simultaneously prevent diseases. About 15-25% of the total feed is not digested by the animals use since the feed contain some indigestible components and or the animal bodies lack the specific enzyme - to counter this problem feed enzyme additives play an important role. Amylases are the important food additives which increase the digestibility and nutritional value to improve the growth of poultry. Numerous studies have shown that supplementation of exogenous enzymes in wheat, barley, sorghum or triticale-based rations can improve performance of poultry to a level compared to that obtained by corn-soya-based rations. Naturally, the gastrointestinal tract of poultry produces enzymes to aid the digestion of nutrients. However, the birds do not have enough enzymes to digest fiber completely and need some commercial exogenous enzymes in the diets to improve the digestion.

Enzymes, Poultry feed, broilers, corn-soyabean meal and amylase

The use of enzymes as a feed additive has rapidly expanded. In the last decade, extensive studies have been conducted to study the effects of feeding exogenous enzymes on the performance of poultry. By compiling these studies into a single focused work, this review provides evidence that enzyme is a significant instrument for the use in poultry feed. Although the economic and social benefits of enzymes have been well established and the future of feed enzymes is a bright one. However, further research is required if enzymes are to reach their full potential in the industry and to answer some of the questions that this article raises, particularly those regarding the mode of action of enzymes, how best to match the levels of enzyme and substrate and how enzymes counter the variable environments in the animal's gut. Any advances in this field must ultimately improve the welfare of chickens, reduce the production of wastes and conserve resources. Poultry industry is becoming increasingly receptive to the use of exogenous enzymes supplementation. Enzyme supplementation to the poultry rations has a positive effect on feeds digestibility and leads to better productivity and performance. Moreover, supplementation of commercial enzymes can increase the nutritive value of feed ingredients and diets as well as allow greater flexibility in diet formulation. It has also a potential effect on mitigation of the environmental pollution by reducing the excretion of some elements such as nitrogen and phosphorus in poultry manure.

Ritu Khasa and Sushil Kumar (2022). Role of Amylase Enzyme in Poultry Feed. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(4a): 564-567.