The effect of enzymatically-modified canola meal on growth performance, nutrient utilization, and gut health and function of broiler chickens

Enzymatically-modified canola meal (ECM) is a product obtained from the incubation of canola meal (CM) with a blend of specific carbohydrase enzymes. Incubation of CM with multicarbohydrase enzymes resulted in a significant decrease in non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) content, production of potentially bioactive NSP hydrolysis products, and the spontaneous lactic acid bacteria fermentation. The latter resulted in the production of lactic acid, phytate hydrolysis, and the reduction in the product pH from 5.9 to 4.0. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of ECM on growth performance, nutrient utilization, and gut health and function of broiler chickens. Four-day-old as hatched Ross 308 broilers were assigned to 5 dietary treatments, each consisting of 8 cages of 8 birds. Birds were fed the starter (4-14d of age, 100 g/ kg CM) and grower (14-21d of age, 200 g/kg of CM) Control diet, and Control diets supplemented with ECM (Low and High) or enzymes (E1 and E2). In the ECM-containing diets, ECM replaced either 50 g/kg (Low ECM diet) or entire CM (High ECM diet) of the Control diets. In the E1 and E2 diets, the enzyme blend was supplemented at 1.25 g/kg and 12.5 g/kg of the starter Control diet and 2.5 g/kg and 25 g/kg of the grower Control diet, respectively. Replacing CM with ECM did not affect growth performance, but significantly increased the apparent total tract NSP digestibility and nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy content. The ECM-containing diets decreased sialic acids secretion on day 21 and increased the abundance of Lactobacillus (P < 0.01) in ileum and ceca compared to Control, E1, and E2 during the whole trail. The abundance of Escherichia coli was significantly lower in ceca of birds fed the High ECM grower diets compared to the Control. Total short chain fatty acids in cecal digesta of birds fed High ECM starter diet significantly increased compared with the Control. Replacing CM with ECM improved nutrient digestibility and increased the presence of probiotic organisms which was not observed in the enzyme supplemented diets. Therefore, ECM can improve gut health and could be used as a valuable feed ingredient or additive.