The Role of Vitamins and Feed Enzymes in Combating Metabolic Challenges and Disorders

The potential exists for vitamins and feed enzymes to counteract some metabolic disorders and challenges in poultry. Recent research indicates that increased levels of vitamins E and C are able to reduce ascites-related mortality in broiler chickens. Fatty liver and kidney syndrome is a nutritionally induced metabolic disorder that has been eliminated under practical production conditions due to regular supplementation of poultry diets with biotin. There is also experimental evidence for beneficial effects of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol on the incidence and severity of skeletal and performance anomalies in broilers. Another challenge is the presence of high levels of indigestible and partly soluble nonstarch polysaccharides in many cereals and other plant feed ingredients, resulting in various antinutritive effects. The use of feed enzymes, in particular endo-1,3-1,4-β-glucanase and endo-1,4-β-xylanase, to counteract these adverse effects is well implemented by the feed industry. A typical example of metabolic challenge is the reduced availability of phytate P in plant feed ingredients and the potential for phytate to act as an antinutritional component. Microbial phytase provides a practical solution for improving P availability in plant ingredients. In addition, recent studies suggest phytate can stimulate endogenous losses, and phytase can help prevent those losses.