Effects of exogenous enzymes alone or in combination with oligosaccharides on utilization of total dietary fiber, fermentation, growth performance, and health of weanling and growing pigs

Five experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of exogenous enzymes and the combination of the enzyme xylanase with oligosaccharides on the utilization of dietary fiber, fermentation, digestibility of energy and nutrients, growth performance, and health of weanling and growing pigs. Experiment 1 was conducted to establish a database for soluble dietary fiber (SDF), insoluble dietary fiber (IDF), and total dietary fiber (TDF) in feed ingredients commonly used in animal nutrition, and to test the hypothesis that the difference between calculated and analyzed TDF values was equal to zero. A total of 846 samples, classified in four types (i.e., cereal grains, cereal grains coproducts, oilseeds and oilseed coproducts, and other feed ingredients), were analyzed for dry matter (DM) and for IDF and SDF, and TDF was calculated as the sum of IDF and SDF. For each feed ingredient, means and standard deviation were calculated, and proximate components (i.e., ash, crude protein, crude fat, and starch) were added and subtracted from the concentration of DM using values from the literature to obtain a calculated TDF value. Results demonstrated a high correlation between analyzed and calculated values for TDF (r = 0.96; P < 0.001) indicating that the analyzed TDF values can characterize the dietary fiber fraction of plant-based feed ingredients. The difference between calculated and analyzed values is statistically not different from zero (P > 0.05) for cereal grains, cereal grains coproducts, and other feed ingredients, but for oilseed coproducts the analyzed TDF did not account for all fiber fractions (P < 0.05). Experiment 2 tested the hypothesis that a novel endo-β-mannanase can be used in diets for pigs for a period of 42 days post-weaning without negatively impacting growth performance, serum chemistry, hematological characters, or organ weights, even in a very high dose was used. Results indicated that pigs fed diets containing β-mannanase did not negatively impact general health and growth of the pigs even if included at a very high dose. Experiment 3 tested the hypothesis that supplementation of a novel combination of xylanase and β-glucanase in diets for growing pigs increases the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of gross energy and TDF, and therefore, increase metabolizable energy (ME) in high fiber diets for pigs was tested. Results indicated that pigs fed the high dose of the combination of xylanase and β-glucanase tended to have greater (P < 0.10) ATTD of gross energy and had greater (P < 0.05) ME compared with pigs fed the control diet. However, no differences were observed in ATTD of IDF, SDF, and TDF. In experiments 4 and 5, the hypotheses that the enzyme xylanase or the combination of xylanase and oligosaccharides (i.e., stimbiotic) added to high-fiber diets improves growth performance and intestinal health of weanling pigs, and the apparent ileal digestibility (AID), apparent cecal digestibility (ACD), and ATTD of gross energy, IDF, SDF, and TDF of diets fed to growing pigs were tested. Results indicated that weanling pigs fed diets with xylanase or stimbiotic increased (P < 0.05) ATTD of nutrients and energy in the late nursery, leading to greater (P < 0.05) growth performance after 42 d post-weaning. The diet containing xylanase fed to growing pigs had greater (P < 0.05) AID, ACD, and ATTD of gross energy, IDF, and TDF, but diet containing stimbiotic only had greater (P < 0.05) AID of gross energy, IDF, and TDF, with no improvements in ACD and ATTD of nutrients and energy. In conclusion, determining dietary fiber fractions such as SDF, IDF, and TDF provides accurate information about the fiber composition of most feed ingredients, except oilseeds and oilseed coproducts. The novel endo-β-mannanase can be used in diets for pigs with negatively impacting the general health and growth of the pigs, even if overdose. The combination of xylanase and β-glucanase added in diets for growing pigs can improve energy utilization by pigs. Xylanase and stimbiotic can improve growth performance of weanling pigs because they increase fiber fermentation and therefore, increase nutrient and energy digestibility in diets for weanling pigs, but xylanase alone is more effective than stimbiotic to enhance fermentation and improve digestibility of nutrients and energy in growing pigs. Overall, results presented in this dissertation demonstrated that exogenous enzymes have positive effects on digestibility and fermentability across the gastrointestinal tract, as well as utilization of energy, growth performance and health of pigs fed high fiber diets.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Nutritional Sciences

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Acosta Medellin, Jessica Paola

Contributors dc:contributor

• Stein, Hans H
• Cattai de Godoy, Maria
• Nakamura, Manabu
• Merriman, Laura A

• digestibility
• dietary fiber
• energy
• fermentation
• growth performance
• health
• pigs

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Jessica Paola Acosta Medellin

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132668

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132668