Application of phytase, microbial or plant origin, to reduce phosphorus excretion in poultry production

Abstract

In order to prevent pollution from animal waste, the excretion of nutrients should be reduced through proper nutritional management. Among the many nutrients of concern, such as N, P, Cu, Zn and K, P is one of the most concerned nutrients to be managed. Seven feeding trials, three with layers and four with broilers, were conducted to determine if microbial phytase supplementation can reduce non-phytate phosphorus (NPP) level in diets and results in concomitant reductions of P excretion. The results showed that microbial phytase can be successfully used to achieve these purposes. Activity of natural phytase in certain plant feedstuffs is high enough to be considered in feed formulation. Three experiments have been conducted to study the characteristics of plant phytase and its application to feeding of broilers. Selected brands of wheat bran could be successfully used as a source of phytase in broiler feeding.