New book provides fresh insight into the use of enzymes in swine feed

Feed additive enzymes play a key role in shaping the future of pork production efficiency, according to the contributing authors of a newly published book.

Members of AB Vista's senior research team were asked to contribute a chapter to volume 2 of Achieving Sustainable Production of Pig Meat, a reference book which aims to provide the latest insight for researchers and anyone involved in supporting the industry.

“Our contribution is essentially an update on the use of three classes of enzymes - NSPases, phytases and proteases - in pig nutrition,” said Dr Mike Bedford, Research Director for AB Vista.

“It brings together findings from the past five years, which explain how these enzymes work and how to get the most out of them.”

One of the key messages is that there is more than one way to use phytases, he said.

“In the past, phytases have simply been used to extract phosphorus out of the diet, but we think that people should also be looking at them as a way of maximising nutrient extraction from feed, which fits with the sustainability concept of the book itself.”

Reducing the use of antibiotics

The potential for reducing antibiotic use by adding NSPases to feed is also covered in the chapter by Dr Bedford.

“Looking at improving the gut health of the animal by feeding NSPases for a long period of time fits well with the trends and changes in the animal nutrition field,” he said. 

“Anything that helps the health and welfare of the animal is going to be useful in the future.”

As well as chapters on nutritional topics, such as the use of exogenous enzymes, growth promoters and probiotics, the book - published by Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing - covers pig breeding and the practical use of the pig genome mapping for molecular breeding techniques.