The effect of cereal type and enzyme addition on pig performance, intestinal microflora, and ammonia and odour emissions

Abstract

Two 2 £ 2 factorial experiments were conducted to investigate the interaction between cereal type (wheat v. barley) and exogenous enzyme supplementation (with or without) on odour and ammonia emissions (experiment 1) and growth performance (experiment 2) in grower-finisher pigs. The enzyme supplement used contained endo-1, 3 (4) -b-glucanase (EC 3.2.1.6) and endo-1, 4 -b-xylanase (E.C 3.2.1.8). The diets were formulated to contain similar levels of net energy (9.8 MJ/kg) and lysine (10.0 g/kg). The experimental treatments were as follows: (1) wheat-based diet, (2) wheat-based diet containing a b-glucanase and b-xylanase mixed enzyme supplement, (3) barley-based diet and (4) barley-based diet containing a b-glucanase and bxylanase mixed enzyme supplement. In experiment 1, the diets were offered to the pigs for 23 days in sealed pens (eight pigs per pen) and this was repeated four times (n ¼ 4). Odour and ammonia emissions were measured on days 9, 11, 14, 16, 21 and 23 of each replicate period. Odour samples were collected in 20-l Nalophan bags and analysed for odour concentration using an ECOMA Yes/No Olfactometer. Ammonia concentrations in the ventilation air were measured using Drä ger tubes. In experiment 2, 220 pigs were group fed in mixed sex pens using single-space feeders (11 pigs per feeder, six boars and five gilts) (n ¼ 5). There was a cereal £ enzyme interaction in odour emission rates, ammonia emissions and selected microbial populations in the caecum and colon (P , 0.05). The addition of an enzyme supplement to the barley-based diet increased both odour and ammonia emission, however the addition of an enzyme to the wheat-based diet decreased ammonia emission rates and had no effect on odour emission. Pigs offered the unsupplemented barley-based diet had a significantly (P , 0.05) lower population of Enterobacteriaceae spp. and a higher population of Bifidobacteria spp. compared with enzyme-supplemented barley diets. However, there was no effect of enzyme supplementation in wheat-based diets. In the performance experiment, neither cereal type nor enzyme inclusion had an effect on pig performance or carcass characteristics. In conclusion, the inclusion of an enzyme mix to barley-based diets increased odour and ammonia emissions, while the addition of an enzyme mix to wheat-based diets decreased ammonia emissions.

Ileal and total tract digestibility in local (Mong Cai) and exotic (Landrace×Yorkshire) piglets fed low and high-fibre diets, with or without enzyme supplementation

“…The interaction between enzyme supplementation and dietary fibre content in the present study could have been due to a change in the activity of the bacteria in the digestive tract of the piglets when fed a diet with enzyme supplementation. This is supported by the study of Garry et al (2007) showing that enzyme supplementation to different cereal based pig diets resulted in changes in the activity of bacteria in the caecum and large intestine. A further possible explanation could have been the improvement of the morphology of small intestine with enzyme supplemented high-fibre diets, such as an increase of villus size in the small intestine.…”

Effect of crude protein concentration and sugar-beet pulp on nutrient digestibility, nitrogen excretion, intestinal fermentation and manure ammonia and odour emissions from finisher pigs

“…It is generally accepted that -E-mail: john.vodoherty@ucd.ie the reduction of dietary crude protein (CP) can significantly reduce excess N excretion and ammonia emissions (Hayes et al, 2004;Leek et al, 2005;O'Connell et al, 2006;Lynch et al, 2007). Recent data have shown that fermentable carbohydrates can have similar effects in reducing ammonia emissions (O'Connell et al, 2005;Garry et al, 2007).…”

Indices of gastrointestinal fermentation and manure emissions of growing-finishing pigs as influenced through singular or combined consumption of Lactobacillus plantarum and inulin

“…Lactobacillus spp. were selected as bacterial indicators of saccharolytic fermentation (Garry et al, 2007;O'Shea et al, 2011), whereas Enterobacteriaceae and Clostridia Cluster 1 were chosen for quantifi cation on the basis of putative associations of member species with gastrointestinal disequilibrium, protein fermentation, and production of odorous compounds (Zhu and Jacobson, 1999;Zhu, 2000;Heo et al, 2009).…”

“…Reductions in malodor have also been attained by introducing fi brous carbohydrates into the diet. Such fermentable material stimulates enteric microbial saccharolysis, and odorous protein-derived metabolites correspondingly diminish (Piva et al, 1996;Garry et al, 2007;Lynch et al, 2007). However, the commercial acceptance of including fermentable carbohydrates in diets offered to pigs has often been poor because of concerns about reduced feed consumption, diminished nutrient digestibility, and increased carcass fat accretion (Meade et al, 1966;Anderson and Chen, 1979;Leek et al, 2007a).…”