Enzyme is an active substance produced by an organism and is the catalyst for various biochemical reactions in the body. Digestion, absorption and utilization of various nutrients have to rely on enzymes. Enzyme isundivided,specific and high efficient. At present, thousands of enzymeshave been discovered, more than 300 of which can be artificially produced, and over 20 of them are used infeed industry. The enzyme product which is produced by bioengineering is called enzyme preparation. Enzyme preparations are widely used in feed as feed additive in recent years, and those used as feed additive are mostly digestive enzymes. Enzyme preparations has a broad market prospects and application potential as it is an environmentally-friendly green feed additive that can effectively improve feed utilization rate, save feed material resources, without side effects, and absolutely has no adverse effects such as drug residues or resistance.

Main types of enzyme preparation feed additives

Amylases. Amylases are mainly α-amylases and saccharification enzymes. α-amylase decomposes starch macromolecules into medium and low molecular substances that are easily absorbed. While saccharifying enzymes can further hydrolyze the medium- and low-molecular substances decomposed within α-amylase into glucose, which can be absorbed and utilized by animals.

Proteases. Protease is a hydrolase that degrades protein peptide chains, mainly pepsin, trypsin, papain and the like.

Cellulases. Cellulase can destroy the crystalline structure of cellulose, hydrolyze cellulose macromolecules into oligosaccharide fragments, and decompose oligosaccharide materials into glucose.

β-glucanases. β-glucanase ishighly viscous, widely present in a variety of plant materials. It is an important antioxidant factor affecting the transmission and absorption of nutrient molecules. β-glucanase can hydrolyze macromolecules such as glucan, reduce the viscosity of substances in the digestive tract, and promote the absorption of nutrients. β-glucanase is an important and widely used enzyme as feed additives.

Pectinases. Pectin is an anti-nutritional factor in plant-based raw materials that affects feed utilization. Pectinase can effectively destroy the pectin and promote the digestion and absorption of nutrients. It is also a commonly used feed enzyme preparation.

Phytases. Most of the phosphorus in the grain exist as a form of phytate phosphorus. Animalsdon’t secrete phytase, so the utilization of this part of the phosphorus in the grain is low. But by adding the phytase secreted by the microorganism to the feed, this part of the phosphorus can be released, thereby reducing the amount of inorganic phosphorus added in the feed, decreasing the cost , along with the amount of phosphorus excretion in animal feces, lessening environmental pollution. It is a green feed additive with more applications and the best prospects.

Complex enzymes.Complex enzymes is aproduct mixed by at least two types of biologically active enzymes. Complex enzymes is formulated according to the characteristics of different animals in different growth stages. It is currently the most commonly used feed additive as its good effect.

The role of enzyme preparation feed additives

Decomposing nutrients directly , improving feed utilization. Active enzymes can effectivelydecompose and digest some molecular multimers in the feed into nutrients that are easily absorbed,or into small pieces of nutrients for further digestion by other digestive enzymes. Animals have difficulties in decomposing and absorbing some kinds of macromolecular substances, so the addition of enzyme preparations can promote the decomposition and digestion of nutrients in the feed, thereby improving feed utilization.

Eliminating anti-nutritional molecules,improving digestive function. There are some non-starch polysaccharides, pectins, phytic acid, and cellulose polymers in plant materials, which increase the content and viscosity of the animal's digestive tract, affecting the digestion and absorption of effective nutrients. A variety of enzymes in the enzyme preparation, especially β-glucanase, pectinase, phytase and cellulase, can decompose these substances into small molecules, thereby reducing the viscosity of substances in the digestive tract, effectively eliminating the adverse effects of these anti-nutrient factors, and improving the digestive performance of animals.

Activating the secretion of endogenous enzymes, increasing the concentration of digestive enzymes. Thanks to the use of enzyme preparations, more substrates for various enzymes can be provided, thereby activating more secretion of various digestive enzymes in the animal, increasing the effective content of digestive enzymes, accelerating the digestion and absorption of nutrients, thereby improving feed utilization rate,stimulating animal metabolism to helpthem grow.