AveMix® 02 CS – The unique multi-enzyme concept for optimal digestibility

AveMix® 02 CS is a unique enzyme combination that unlocks inaccessible nutrients within plant-based diets. This EU approved feed additive results in a more efficient use of feed ingredients, and allows for a more flexible and cost-effective feed formulation without compromising animal performance.

Inaccessible plant nutrients

Weaning piglets face many challenges, including having to adapt to new diets to boost their development. Pigs produce numerous digestive enzymes in order to increase nutrient availability and digestion. However, none of these digestive enzymes can degrade fiber structures in plant materials that are made of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP). This means that piglets are unable to digest certain components of plant-based dietary ingredients, particularly insoluble NSP fibers. As a result, a part of the valuable nutrients, such as protein and energy, reach the hindgut. Here they are utilized by hindgut bacteria, which can result in microbial dysbiosis or diarrhea.

Palital has developed enzyme concepts to specifically hydrolyze these NSP fibers, which then unlocks nutrients for utilization in the small intestine. Further details on the mechanism and mode of action can be read here.

Complex NSP fiber profile of certain ingredients

Typical piglets’ diets are particularly rich in NSP fibers due to, for example, their high content in soybean meal and barley. These raw materials are not only rich in arabinoxylans (composed of arabinose and xylose) and glucans (composed of glucose), but also in pectins (composed of galactose and uronic acid) (Figure 1). Major byproducts like cereal brans, distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) or rapeseed meal are also high in these three types of fibers, particularly pectins. Diets high in these ingredients will, therefore, benefit from enzymes that can act on all three fiber types. As such, AveMix® 02 CS has been specifically formulated for use in piglets, with guaranteed high activity levels of a unique combination of endo-1,4-β-xylanase, endo-1,3(4)-β-glucanase and pectinase (also called polygalacturonase) enzymes. AveMix® 02 CS is the only EU registered enzyme concept including pectinase, taking feed formulation flexibility to a whole new level.

Figure 1 – NSP fiber profiles of soybean meal and barley.

AveMix® 02 CS enables feed reformulation while enhancing performance

To evaluate the efficiency of AveMix® 02 CS numerous trials have been carried out on piglets in different universities and research institutes. AveMix® 02 CS has proven value in both ‘on-top’ of the feed application or in feed reformulation. In this article, we share the findings of a research trial conducted in Spain.

The 41 day trial was performed using 558 weaned piglets (5.2 kg), which were randomly allocated into 3 groups of 186: positive control, negative control and negative control + AveMix® 02 CS. The positive control group only received the basal diets. The negative control group received reformulated diets which relative to the positive control group basal diets had a higher average content of barley (+30%), wheat (+1.5%) and soybean meal (+8%) along with a lower average content of fish meal (-3%), whey powder (-2.5%) and extruded cereals such as corn, wheat and soy (-14%). This resulted in a reduction of highly digestible ingredients. More specifically, there was a ~ 40% increase in total NSP fiber content and a ~ 5% decrease in the digestible energy content. The negative control + AveMix® 02 CS group received the reformulated diets with supplementation of the recommended dosage of AveMix® 02 CS.

Figure 2 – AveMix® 02 CS allows reformulated diets to be more effectively used, even compared to the positive control. For each parameter, bars that are labelled with different letters (a or b) significantly differ (P<0.05).

The reformulated negative control diets significantly decreased piglet performance compared to the positive control, as evidenced by the drastically reduced growth rate, decreased feed intake and increased feed conversion ratio (Figure 2). However, the inclusion of AveMix® 02 CS allowed the piglets to overcome the challenging increase in NSP fibers content and decrease in digestible energy. In fact, the piglets performed even better than those fed with the positive control diets (Figure 2). As such, AveMix® 02 CS clearly improved the digestibility of the feed by degrading the NSP fibers. This was also reflected by the increased feed intake in the AveMix® 02 CS supplemented group.

In conclusion, AveMix® 02 CS is a unique enzyme combination that unlocks inaccessible nutrients within plant-based diets. This EU approved feed additive results in a more efficient use of feed ingredients, and allows for a more flexible and cost-effective feed formulation without compromising animal performance. For more information on AveMix® 02 CS, please contact us.