Early addition of enzyme-treated soybean in the diet improves amino acid absorption and protein digestibility by promoting digestive enzyme activity in broilers

• Published in: Animal (Cambridge, England) England), 2024-12, Vol.18 (12), p.101364, Article 101364
• Main Authors: Ma, C.L., Yin, Z.C., Zhang, X.Y., Zhang, C.X., Zhang, W.Y., Li, Y.X., Yang, X.J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Growth performance; Intestinal development; Nutrient digestibility; Poultry; Protein utilisation
• ISSN: 1751-7311; 1751-732X; 1751-732X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.animal.2024.101364

•Anti-nutritional factors in soybean aggravate intestinal injury in broiler chick.•Enzymatic treatment of soybean can eliminate anti-nutritional factors.•Does early addition of enzyme-treated soybean meal have long-term effects?•Enzyme-treated soybean meal promotes gut health and the growth of broilers.•Enzyme-treated soybean meal may be used as potential growth promoters. Early nutritional regulation has become a research hotspot. The present study was undertaken to assess dietary early addition enzyme-treated soybean meal (ESBM) on nutrient digestibility, amino acid absorption, and intestinal development of broilers. Four hundred and fifty 1-day-old broilers were divided into three groups with 10 replicates of 15 broilers and fed with a basic diet, 2.5 or 5% ESBM during 1–10 days. Then, all groups were fed the same basic diets until 42 d. The obtained results indicated that supplementation of ESBM in early stage resulted in heavier BW and a better feed conversion ratio during the experimental periods compared with the control group. Supplementing the broiler’s diet with 5% ESBM led to enhance digestibility of DM, CP and decrease abdominal fat yield (P