Deliverable D1.5 New enzymatic cocktails for novel feed ingredients

Objectives

The objective of Task 1.5 is to study the impact of enzyme cocktails on the nutritional value of conventional and upgraded rapeseed meals (for details see deliverable 1.1), and of green biomass residues produced in Task 1.2 in combination with enzymes selected by DuPont.

Rationale

The majority of protein-rich feed ressources for livestock production in Europe is imported. Compared to soybean meal (SBM), many of the locally produced protein sources (e.g., beans, pulses, and legumes) in Europe are inferior in nutritive value due to the presence of antinutritional compounds. It is therefore of relevance to study the potential to improve the nutritional value of European grown proteins by the use of novel enzymes. The use of feed enzymes is a proven technology to improve the nutritional value of feeds for broilers and pigs. Conventional European rapeseed meal (RSM) was used for the selection of novel proteases and NSPases to assess their potential and to optimize the dosing. In vitro response surface methodology was used to determine the potential of enzymes to solubilise protein from the substrate. The enzymes and doses obtained in in vitro experiments were used to optimize the dosing for in vivo experiments with broiler chickens and growing pigs. Performance, gastrointestinal parameters and nutrient digestibility were used to evaluate the effects of the enzymes. For the extraction of protein from green biomass (Deliverable 1.2) cell wall degrading enzymes were used to aid the extraction of protein. The fibre-rich pulp after the extraction of protein from green biomass without and with treatment of cell wall degrading enzymes was studied in experiments with growing rabbits.