Research Article

Phytase in Feed Positively Affected the Phosphorus Digestibility and Growth Performance in Broilers

Muhammad Bilal Munawar1, Saima Naveed1, Shafqat Nawaz Qaisrani1, Jibran Hussain2, Shahzad Munir3, Ayesha Ahmed3, Mubbashir Hussain4, Ahmad Kamran Khan5, Abdullah Jalal6 and Irfan Ahmed7*

1Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Animal Production and Technology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore-54000, Pakistan; 2University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore-54000, Pakistan; 3Faculty of Plant Protection, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, Yunnan, PR China; 4Kohat University of Science and Technology Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 26000, Pakistan; 5Department of Plant Protection, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan; 6The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, 25000, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; 7Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan.

Received | November 18, 2021; Accepted | June 28, 2022; Published | November 27, 2022

*Correspondence | Irfan Ahmed, Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan; Emails: irfan.ahmed@iub.edu.pk, irfanahmad166@yahoo.com

Citation | Munawar, M.B., S. Naveed, S.N. Qaisrani, J. Hussain, S. Munir, A. Ahmed, M. Hussain, A.K. Khan, A. Jalal and I. Ahmed. 2022. Phytase in feed positively affected the phosphorus digestibility and growth performance in broilers. Sarhad Journal of Agriculture, 38(5): 121-129.

DOI | https://dx.doi.org/10.17582/journal.sja/2022/38.5.121.129

Keywords | Chickens, Liquid phytase, Growth performance, Tibia ash, Plasma phosphorus

Copyright: 2022 by the authors. Licensee ResearchersLinks Ltd, England, UK.

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Introduction

Corn-soy-based diet contains approximately 40-60% phosphorus (P) in phytate phosphorus form. The unabsorbed phytate P from the birds causes environmental pollution, therefore using phytase to control the excretion of phytate P for reduction of environmental pollution is necessary (Guo et al., 2009; Attia et al., 2019). Nowadays, exogenous enzymes like phytase are commercially used in poultry diets because it makes the availability of nutrients in the feed. Fungi (Aspergillus niger) and bacteria (Escherichia coli) are main derivatives of the phytase formation (Saleh et al., 2021). Diet supplemented with phytase improves broiler growth performance, and increase phytase inclusion can reduces the nutrient specifications (Liu et al., 2015; Moss et al., 2017). Dietary addition of microbial phytase can increase the nutrients utilization including amino acids, energy and phosphorus availability in Broilers (Ahmed et al., 2017; Selle et al., 2000). Dietary phytase supplementation in broiler diet from 8 to 21 days can rise P availability in the diet (Jiang et al., 2013). Feed processing including, conditioning and pelleting are used to enhance the nutrient digestibility and to reduce the level of pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella present in the feed (Boltz et al., 2019). The steam effect is an important factor contributing in enzymatic activity reduction due to the addition of steam, temperature, and moisture simultaneously but lead to enzyme inactivity (Perdana et al., 2012). So, nutritionists are in dire need to search alternative manipulations that can reduce phytase inactivity due to high pelleting temperature. Optimal temperature range for the best activity of plant phytase is 45°C - 60°C (Wodzinski and Ullah, 1995). That’s why plant phytase became inactive at high steam pelleting temperature. One solution is the post-pelleting addition of liquid phytase to avoid losses in enzyme activity due to pelleting. Phytase activity reduces about 60% at 80°C, so at high pelleting temperature, phytase should be sprayed after pelleting (Eeckhout, 2000).

It is expected that liquid application on the surface of the pellet may give better results in terms of the nutritional value of diet and bird performance (Ziggers, 2003). Present trial was conducted to investigate the post pelleting effects supplementing liquid phytase to avoid phytase denaturation, enhance growth performance, economics and phosphorus utilization in broilers.

Materials and Methods

Animal experimentation ethical statement

Current study was conducted according to principals of Animal Ethics Committee of UVAS, Lahore. The guidance was followed for the animal care and use according to the National Research Council, USA (NRC, 2011).

 

Table 1: Feed formulation (Positive control).

Ingredients (%)	Starter	Grower
Maize	38.40	47.90
Rice tips	15.00	15.00
Canola meal	10.00	8.15
Rapeseed meal	3.00	3.00
Soybean meal	22.00	22.00
Sunflower meal	4.31	----
Marble chips	1.07	1.00
DCP	1.85	0.73
Lys. sulphate	0.53	0.43
Dig. methionine	0.16	0.16
L. threonine	0.08	0.13
Oil	2.49	0.77
Sodium bicarbonate	0.18	0.12
Salt	0.20	0.20
Premix	0.65	0.41
Total	100	100
Calculated nutrients
CP	21.50	20.00
M.E kcal/kg	2900	3000
Dig. Lys	1.20	1.10
Dig. M+C	0.86	0.86
Dig. Threonine	0.80	0.78
Calcium	0.90	0.87
T. Phosphorus	0.80	0.70
Av. P	0.45	0.40

1Supplied per kilogram of diet: vitamin A, 15,000 IU; vitamin D3, 3300 IU; vitamin E, 62.5 mg; vitamin K, 3.6 mg; vitamin B1, 3 mg; vitamin B2, 9 mg; vitamin B6, 6 mg; vitamin B12, 0.03 mg; niacin, 60 mg; calcium pantothenate, 18 mg; folic acid, 1.5 mg; biotin, 0.36 mg; choline chloride, 600 mg; Fe, 80 mg; Cu, 12 mg; Zn, 75 mg; Mn, 60 mg; I, 0.35 mg; Se, 0.15 mg; growth promoting agent, 30 mg; and antioxidant, 100 mg.

 

Experimental site and feeding

This study was conducted at R and D farm of Sharif Mills (Pvt) Ltd, Okara for the period of 35 days. The study was conducted on 504 one-day-old (Hubbard) broilers purchased from a local commercial hatchery, individually weighed. Rice husk was used as a bedding material during the study. The broilers were exposed to 24 h light-period. For optimum growth of the chicken, 24 h light periods are preferred for stimulation of the different biological functions. During the experiment, water and feed were offered at ad-libitum. Vaccination was carried out according to the schedule. The data regarding slaughtered birds were recorded daily basis and their weights were used for feed conversion ratio (FCR) calculations. Pellet temperature during feed formulation was kept on 85°C. Liquid phytase was applied after pelleting on the feed and powder form phytase was applied during pelleting with each batch of feed. Six iso-caloric (starter with 2900 kcal/kg and grower phase with 3000 kcal/kg) and iso-nitrogenous (21.5% in starter and 20% in grower phase) experimental diets; (A) a negative control (NC) corn-soy-based diet deficient in phosphorus levels 0.30%, 0.26% in starter and grower phase, respectively was formulated; (B) a positive control corn-soy based diet with prescribed level of available P and nutrient recommendations according to (NRC, 1994) was formulated; (C) the NC supplemented with 500 FTU/kg of powder phytase; (D) the NC supplemented with 750 FTU/kg of powder phytase; (G) the NC supplemented with 500 FTU/kg of liquid phytase; (H), NC supplemented with 750 FTU/kg of liquid phytase. All experimental diets were fed as crumbs in starter and grower phases. FTU (phytase activity) expresses the phytase activity. FTU, one phytase unit is described as the total enzyme proportion that liberates 1 micromole of inorganic phosphorus per minutes from sodium phytate (0.0051 mol/l) at pH 5.50 and 37 °C under experimental conditions (Dersjant-Li et al., 2015).

Study parameters

Phytase activity determination was done by the AOAC methodology (AOAC 2000) (Loop et al. 2012). Production parameters (Feed intake (FI), body weight gain (BWG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated on weekly basis. At d 35, 3 birds were selected from each replicate and slaughtered by cervical dislocation, blood was collected for plasma phosphorus and left tibia was removed to determine tibia ash, phosphorus and calcium. The adhering tissues were removed and the bones are dried at 105°C for 24 h in a hot air oven. The dried bones were ground and 5 g of sample was ashed in a muffle furnace at 600°C for 12 h. The ashed sample was used for determination of tibia ash, P and Ca contents in bone (Wilkinson et al., 2013). Protein efficiency ratio (PER) was calculated on weekly basis by dividing weight gain from protein consumed. The organs indexes including liver, heart, empty gizzard and small intestine were measured by dividing the organ weight into whole bird weight and multiplying by 100. The digesta from Meckel’s diverticulum to 2 cm anterior from the ileocecal junction, gently squeezed into a plastic container to avoid any contamination. The digesta sample, thereafter, was immediately stored at -20 °C until further analysis (Qaisrani et al., 2015). Acid-insoluble ash from feed and digesta samples was analyzed (Helrich, 1990). Apparent ileal digestibility coefficient (AIDC) of phosphorus was estimated by collecting the digesta from Meckel’s diverticulum to the ileocaecal junction from 3 birds/replicate. (Lalpanmawia et al., 2014).

 

Table 2: Feed formulation (Negative control).

Ingredients (%)	Starter	Grower
Maize	38.48	47.28
Rice tips	15.00	15.00
Canola meal	10.00	8.15
Rapeseed meal	3.00	3.00
Soybean meal	22.00	22.00
Sunflower meal	5.16	---
Marble chips	1.07	1.00
DCP	1.00	1.50
Lys. sulphate	0.53	0.43
Dig. methionine	0.16	0.16
L. threonine	0.08	0.13
Oil	2.49	0.77
Sodium bicarbonate	0.18	0.12
Salt	0.20	0.20
Premix	0.65	0.26
Total	100	100
Calculated nutrients
CP%	21.50	20.00
M.E kcal/kg	2900	3000
Dig. Lys%	1.20	1.10
Dig. M+C%	0.86	0.86
Dig. Threonine%	0.80	0.78
Calcium%	0.90	0.87
T. Phosphorus%	0.61	0.55
Av. P%	0.30	0.26

2Supplied per kilogram of diet: vitamin A, 15,000 IU; vitamin D3, 3300 IU; vitamin E, 62.5 mg; vitamin K, 3.6 mg; vitamin B1, 3 mg; vitamin B2, 9 mg; vitamin B6, 6 mg; vitamin B12, 0.03 mg; niacin, 60 mg; calcium pantothenate, 18 mg; folic acid, 1.5 mg; biotin, 0.36 mg; choline chloride, 600 mg; Fe, 80 mg; Cu, 12 mg; Zn, 75 mg; Mn, 60 mg; I, 0.35 mg; Se, 0.15 mg; growth promoting agent, 30 mg; and antioxidant, 100 mg.

 

Data analysis

The data collected were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) under Completely Randomized Block Design (CRBD) and SAS 9.1 version (SAS, 2001) was used to compare means through DMR test. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Data for all parameters were presented as mean ± SEM. There were non-significant differences with same numbers on mean value.

 

Table 3: Experimental dietary treatments.

Sr. No	Treatment	Treatments = 6 Replicates/ Treatment = 3 Birds/ Replicate = 28 6*3*28=504
A	Negative control (NC)
B	Positive control (PC)
C	Phytase 500FTU(Powder)+ (NC)(Pre-pelleting)
D	Phytase750FTU (Powder)+(NC)(Pre-pelleting)
G	Phytase500FTU (Liquid)+NC(Post Pelleting)
H	Phytase750FTU (Liquid)+NC(Post Pelleting)

Total 504 one-d-chicks were selected, divided into 6 treatments, 3 replicates and in one replicate 28 chickens. Six feeds were offered to chickens including A (Negative control (NC)), B (Positive control (PC), C (Phytase 500FTU(Powder)+ (NC)(Pre-pelleting), D (Phytase750FTU (Powder)+(NC)(Pre-pelleting), G (Phytase500FTU (Liquid)+NC(Post Pelleting)), H (Phytase750FTU (Liquid)+NC(Post Pelleting).

 

Table 4: Phytase analysis in feed and retention in the chicken body instant phytase 10000FTU/ml.

		%age		%	Retention in the body (%)
Enzyme activity as such	10301/ml	103
	Starter		Grower		P retention % starter	P retention in grower %
Recovery in feed target 500 FTU/kg	463 FTU/kg	93	481 FTU/kg	96	58	62
Recovery in feed target 750 FTU/kg	723 FTU/kg	96	703 FTU/kg	94	60	55
Quantam blue 5000FTU/g
Enzyme activity as such	5309/g	106			P retention % in starter	P retention in grower %
Conditioning Temp. 80
Recovery in feed target 500 FTU/kg	398 FTU/kg	80	413 FTU/kg	83	27	29
Recovery in feed target 750 FTU/kg	611 FTU/kg	81	595 FTU/kg	79	23	20

 

Results and Discussion

Production parameters

The experiment was conducted to evaluate phytase in feed effects on the phosphorus digestibility and growth performance in broilers. Two levels 500 and 750 FTU from each phytase source (liquid and powder) were added to low phosphorus diet. Phytase helps to breakdown phytic acid by releasing iron and zinc and available phosphorus. The results were compared with the negative control diet with low phosphorus than the normal. The enzyme retained activity was performed using the modified method for this specific phytase is presented in the Table 4. Decreased the enzyme activity in the powder form applied pre-pelleting showed the less the %age of activity as compared to the phytase activity of the liquid form applied post-pelleting in the feed formulating in started and grower feeds as shown in Table 4. Due to the increased phytase activity, P retention in the body was found higher in the liquid form phytase application after pelleting as compared to the powder form of phytase applying (Table 4). The average feed intake of broilers g/bird in starter phase showed significant differences (p < 0.001) among the groups A, C and D as shown in (Table 5). Feed intake in grower phase exhibited significant differences among A, C while non-significant among other groups. All groups exhibited the significantly difference (p<0.001) as comparing with group A that is deficient in available phosphorous (Table 5). Significant differences (p < 0.001) in BWG were noted among A, C, G and H groups (Table 6). Phytase supplementation in post-pelleting did influence on weight gain as shown in group H higher weight gain as compared with A negative control group. Significant (p<0.001) weight gain was observed in all groups when compared with the negative group (Table 6). Non-significant (p > 0.05) effects on FCR in starter between all the groups. In grower phase, FCR was improved linearly (p < 0.12) when NC supplemented with phytase. Better FCR was observed in group H that is more than NC, A (Table 7). In overall phase, best FCR observed in group H. Non-significant results were observed among groups B, C, D, and G.

Dressing percentages and organs weight

Highest dressing % was observed in group B (PC) that is more than A NC as shown in (Table 8). Phytase supplementation increased the dressing % and the results of group D and G were comparable with B group as shown in Table 8. Heart weight (g/100 g BW) was increased in low P diet. Group A showed significant differences (p<0.02) than all other groups containing phytase. Liver weight improved linearly (p< 0.18) in group A NC when compared with groups B, C and G. Phytase addition decreased the liver weight when compared with NC. Gizzard weight was not influenced significantly (p<0.7879) by the exogenous phytase supplementation in all experimental diets.

 

Table 5: Effect of phytase supplementation on feed intake in broilers.

Treatments	Feed intake (g/bird)
	Starter	Grower	Overall
A	0895±58.64d	1406±117.33c	2301±169.40c
B	1264±31.59ab	2119±15.54a	3383±17.05a
C	1102±10.03c	1849±11.79b	2951±07.25b
D	1202±23.48b	2067±75.18a	3269±86.50a
G	1262±28.30ab	2111±49.11a	3374±20.81a
H	1310±04.48a	2128±52.50a	3439±56.64a

Mean figure bearing different superscripts row wise differ significantly (p>0.05). Data for all parameters were presented as mean ± S.E.M. Means with the same letter are not significantly different.

 

Table 6: Effect of phytase supplementation on body weight gain in broilers.

Treatments	Body weight gain (g/bird)
	Starter	Grower	Overall
A	605.52±29.15e	645.10±33.11d	1250.62±26.10e
B	830.42±13.19b	1078.96±23.89b	1909.39±21.08c
C	728.34±5.37d	991.02±7.31c	1719.37±3.57d
D	776.25±2.21c	1086.83±11.44b	1863.08±10.07c
G	861.45±1.62ab	1111.55±23.15ab	1973.00±22.32b
H	887.78±1.81a	1170.49±13.13a	2058.28±14.89a

Mean figure bearing different superscripts row wise differ significantly (p>0.05). Data for all parameters were presented as mean ± S.E.M. Means with the same letter are not significantly different.

 

Table 7: Effect of phytase supplementation on feed conversion ratio in broilers.

Treatments	Feed conversion ratio
	Starter	Grower	Overall
A	1.44±0.03a	2.10±0.13a	1.83±0.09a
B	1.46±0.04a	1.96±0.05ab	1.77±0.01ab
C	1.45±0.01a	1.82±0.02b	1.71±0.00ab
D	1.47±0.02a	1.89±0.08ab	1.75±0.05ab
G	1.42±0.01a	1.89±0.05ab	1.71±0.01ab
H	1.43±0.01a	1.81±0.03b	1.67±0.02b

Mean figure bearing different superscripts row wise differ significantly (p>0.05). Data for all parameters were presented as mean ± S.E.M. Means with the same letter are not significantly different.

 

Table 8: Effect of phytase supplementation on dressing%, liver, heart and gizzard weight in broilers.

Treatments	Dressing %	Heart (g/100 g BW)	Liver (g/100 g BW)	Gizzard (g/100 g BW)
A	59.71±0.82b	0.65±0.01a	2.68±0.02a	1.56±0.04a
B	62.52±0.61a	0.51±0.01b	2.37±0.12ab	1.69±0.11a
C	61.62±0.60ab	0.47±0.04b	2.33±0.07ab	1.53±0.04a
D	62.26±0.66a	0.50±0.03b	2.28±0.11b	1.63±0.06 a
G	62.10±0.82a	0.50±0.02b	2.36±0.15ab	1.67±0.11a
H	61.74±0.45ab	0.48±0.05b	2.29±0.11b	1.58±0.13a

Mean figure bearing different superscripts row wise differ significantly (p>0.05). Data for all parameters were presented as mean ± S.E.M. Means with the same letter are not significantly different.

 

Determination of Ca and P

Tibia ash % in groups H and G supplemented with NC+ 750 and 500 FTU liquid phytase were observed significantly higher (p<0.003) than all other groups but non-significant among each other (Table 8). Tibia P % was observed significantly higher (p<0.01) in group H than all other groups. Non-significant results were observed in A, B, C and G groups, but group D showed significantly higher results groups A, B, C and G. Tibia Ca % was observed significantly higher (p<0.001) in groups C, D, G, and H than A and B. Non-significant results were observed between C, D, G, H and between A and B groups (Table 9). Plasma P content was higher (p<0.001) in H group compared with all other groups followed by group D supplemented with NC+750 FTU powder phytase (Table 10). In group H higher plasma P observed than group A supplemented with NC. Non-significant differences (p>0.05) were noted between groups B, C, and G. Phosphorus digestibility in groups A, B and C showed significant differences (p < 0.05). Higher digestibility was observed in group H that was found more than A group. Non-significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed between groups D, G, and H (Table 10).

 

Table 9: Effect of phytase supplementation on tibia parameters.

Treatments	Tibia ash %	Tibia P %	Tibia Ca %
A	40.97±0.19b	6.92±0.07c	8.65±0.82b
B	41.93±0.13b	7.46±0.30c	8.90±0.18b
C	41.92±1.01b	7.36±0.17c	14.21±0.61a
D	42.38±0.30b	7.74±0.20b	15.18±0.48a
G	44.27±0.28a	7.33±0.06c	15.41±0.14a
H	45.11±0.25a	8.06±0.05a	15.67±0.22a

Mean figure bearing different superscripts row wise differ significantly (p>0.05). Data for all parameters were presented as mean ± S.E.M. Means with the same letter are not significantly different.

 

Table 10: Effect of phytase supplementation on plasma phosphorous contents and phosphorous digestibility in broiler at 5 weeks of age.

Treatments	Phosphorous (mg/dl)	Phosphorous digestibility
A	3.93±0.02d	0.50±0.00c
B	4.23±0.02c	0.52±0.00bc
C	4.25±0.02c	0.54±0.00b
D	4.43±0.06b	0.57±0.00a
G	4.25±0.04c	0.57±0.00a
H	4.96±0.03a	0.60±0.00a

Mean figure bearing different superscripts row wise differ significantly (p>0.05). Data for all parameters were presented as mean ± S.E.M. Means with the same letter are not significantly different.

 

Table 11: Effect of phytase supplementation on protein efficiency ratio.

Treatments	PER (0-21 days)	PER (22-35 days)
A	3.16±0.19a	2.30±0.10b
B	3.05±0.09a	2.54±0.07ab
C	3.07±0.01a	2.67±0.01a
D	3.00± 0.05a	2.63±0.11a
G	3.17±0.07a	2.63±0.07a
H	3.15±0.00a	2.75±0.05a

Mean figure bearing different superscripts row wise differ significantly (p>0.05). Data for all parameters were presented as mean ± S.E.M. Means with the same letter are not significantly different.

 

Protein efficiency ratio

Protein efficiency ratio in starter phase exhibited non-significant differences (p>0.05) among all groups as shown in (Table 11). In grower phase, all phytase supplemented diets C, D, G, H showed non-significant differences (p<0.05) when compared with NC. Group H in grower phase was recorded highest protein efficiency ratio than other groups (Table 11).

The effect of liquid phytase supplementation was recorded for growth performance and P utilization in broilers. The 2 levels of phytase enzymes (500 FTU and 750 FTU) in the forms of liquid and powder were supplemented to broilers. This study revealed that phytase supplementation in low phosphorus diet increased the feed intake owes (Watson et al., 2006; Ravindran et al., 2008) findings. The increase in feed intake might be due to faster transit time in birds given phytase. More feed intake and more supplementation of phytase in low phosphorus diet improve FI that results in increase BWG (Bozkurt et al., 2006). Further, the increase in feed intake increases the weight gain, contradicting the study of (Ravindran et al., 2008). Liu et al. (2010), reported that low P diet decreased the body weight gain but this is enriched by phytase supplementation. Singh et al. (2013) highlight that broilers supplemented with phytase observed improved weight gain. Our study owes to the one conducted by Wilkinson et al. (2013) and Bozkurt et al. (2006) who reported that supplementation of phytase in diet improved feed conversion ratio but contradicting the Powell et al. (2011) who displayed no effect on FCR when given phytase supplemented diet. These differences can be related to the different sources of phytase available in the market (Elkhalil et al., 2007). Kiarie et al. (2015) reported 7.4% increase in FCR as the same showed by (dos Santos, 2013; Walk et al., 2013). The release of nutrients and trace minerals from phytate by phytase addition can improve the FCR. Higher tibia ash contents in broilers fed low P diet supplemented with phytase because the phytase in feed ingredients increase the release of P and other minerals. The improvement in tibia ash was noted with the addition of phytase in broilers diet (Wilkinson et al., 2013). Higher tibia ash % in P deficient diet supplemented with phytase was observed. The increase in heart relative weight decreases the P concentration (Ciurescu et al., 2020; Lalpanmawia et al., 2014; Baradaran et al., 2014; Viveros et al., 2002). The liver weight was reduced by phytase powder supplementation. NC showed the maximum liver weight as compared to other dietary treatments (Baradaran et al., 2014; Viveros et al., 2002).

The increase in hydrostatic pressure within the liver can make the change to this weight (Huchzermeyer and De Ruyck, 1986). The gizzard weight showed that phytase had no significant effect (p<0.3326) among all the dietary treatments on gizzard weight same as Liu et al. (2014) who reported no significant effect (p<0.440) of enzyme supplementation at 1000 FTU/kg and 500 FTU/kg (Viveros et al., 2002). The higher plasma P concentration in birds was noted with fed phytase supplemented diet (Naves et al., 2015). Mondal et al. (2007) highlight phytase supplementation also improves plasma P up to 4.24% than low P diet. The present study findings owe the Powell et al. (2011) who observed increased digestibility of phosphorus by phytase supplementation in low calcium and P diet. Phytase improved phosphorus digestibility at all Ca and available phosphorus levels (Amerah et al., 2011). The present work results are not in accordance with the Adebiyi and Olukosi (2015) findings. These differences rely upon diet type, the low of improvement in dietary phosphorus digestibility as observed in their study and the characteristics of the wheat-DDG because it contained lower levels of phytate-bound phosphorus. Similar improvements in PER with supplementation of phytase were observed by Kong and Adeola (2011). Diets used with different phytate levels supplemented with powder phytase that improves PER might be due to the breakdown of the bond between phytate and basic amino acids (Ravindran et al., 2006).

Conclusions and Recommendations

In this work, broilers were given two levels of phytase from liquid and powder source and we observed that by giving 750 FTU liquid post-pelleting phytase, the performance of broilers was best. The decreased activity of phytase is due to high temperature, pressure and moisture related to steam conditioning and pelleting. This trial will help the farmers for economical meat production. Dietary inclusion of liquid post-pelleting phytase generates the bioavailable phosphorus and reduces the phosphorus load in the environment. Further work should be done to replace the expensive phosphorous source with the appropriate level of liquid post-pelleting application of phytase.

Novelty Statement

Liquid post-pelleting application produce more available phosphorus for the poultry and improve overall performance and reduce environmental pollution.

Author’s Contribution

Data curation was made by MBM, SN, IA. Formal analysis was made by SNQ and JH. Methodology was made by MBM,SM, AA, MH and AJ. Software was assigned to AKK and IA.Writing-original draft was assigned to SN, SNQ and JH.Writing-review and editing was assigned to IA, MBM, AKK, SM, and AA.

Conflict of interest

The authors have declared no conflict of interest.

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