Research Article

Effect of Natural Multi-Enzyme Supplementation on Growth Performance, Gut Microflora, Carcass Characteristics, and Meat Quality of Broilers Reared in Tropical Climates

Keatisak Soisuwan1, Hatairat Plaimast2, Atichat Thongnum3, Soranot Chotnipat4, Manatsanun Nopparatmaitree4*

1Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Rajamagala University of Technology Srivijaya, Thungsong, Nakhon Si Thammarat, 80110, Thailand; 2Department of Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, Pathumwan, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand; 3Department of Animal Science and Fisheries, Faculty of Sciences and Agricultural Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand; 4Faculty of Animal Sciences and Agricultural Technology, Silpakorn University, Phetchaburi IT Campus, Cha-am, Phetchaburi 76120, Thailand.

Received | October 25, 2022; Accepted | February 25, 2023; Published | April 10, 2023

*Correspondence | Manatsanun Nopparatmaitree, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Agricultural Technology, Silpakorn University, Phetchaburi IT Campus, Cha-am, Phetchaburi 76120, Thailand; Email: Nopparatmaitree_m@silpakorn.edu

Citation | Soisuwan K, Plaimast H, Thongnum A, Chotnipat S, Nopparatmaitree M (2023). Effect of natural multi-enzyme supplementation on growth performance, gut microflora, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of broilers reared in tropical climates. J. Anim. Health Prod. 11(2): 129-138.

DOI | http://dx.doi.org/10.17582/journal.jahp/2023/11.2.129.138

ISSN | 2308-2801

 

 

Copyright: 2023 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

Broiler production industry places a strong emphasis on the production in order to achieve goals such as high productivity management, effective nutrient utilization, and high production efficiency (Dersjant-Li et al., 2015). Approximately 60–70% of the cost of producing broilers in this context is attributed to the cost of animal feed (Alqaisi et al., 2017). The corn-soybean diet is a typical feed formulator used in the industrial production of broiler feed. However, the scope for improving the nutritive values of maize and soybean meal-based diets with carbohydrates is limited, since the nutrients in maize and soybean are considered to be highly digestible (Mohiti-Asli et al., 2020). A considerable quantity of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) are present in maize (9 g/Kg soluble NSP and 6 g/Kg insoluble NSP). Shirmohammad and Mehri (2011) reported that β-glucan, cellulose, and arabinoxylans are all found in the corn cell wall. In addition, Soybean contains 60 g/Kg soluble NSP and 180 – 210 g/kg insoluble NSP, and these may affect energy utilization of diets containing these ingredients (Pluske et al., 2001). Currently, many alternative grains such as wheat, barley, sorghum, canola, or rapeseed are used in feed formulas to lower feed cost, but these ingredients have different nutrient digestibility (Mohammed et al., 2018; Babatunde et al., 2021). In addition, agro-industrial byproducts can be utilized as alternative feedstuffs to reduce the cost of broiler diets. However, feed sources made from agro-industrial byproducts have a high concentration of plant cells, especially non-starch polysaccharides and lignin, which make up 20% of plant-based poultry diets and cannot be readily broken down by broiler’s endogenous enzymes (Mohammed et al., 2018). Hamaker and Tuncil, (2014) reported that because NSP differ structurally in terms of linkage patterns, monomer composition, degree of branching, and side chain compositions, it has a range of digestibility in each animal’s digestive system. Modern broiler diet formulations frequently include enzymes to reduce anti-nutritive effects impacts of NSP, improve and balance feed resource utilization, decrease the discharge of unused nutrients, and create a more environmentally friendly broiler production process (Musigwa et al., 2021). This enhances NSP utilization and lessens its anti-nutritive effects (Kim et al., 2022). Variations in feed ingredient quality are caused by a variety of factors.

The endogenous enzymes of broiler chickens cannot adequately digest the dietary non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), and a high level of ingestion of these NSP by carbohydrases may exert anti-nutritional effects in broilers by increasing the digesta viscosity and decreasing the nutrient digestibility (Zeng et al., 2015). Exogenous enzymes are supplemented into corn-soya based poultry diets to reduce the effects of differing raw material quality, improve homogeneity and enhance nutrient digestibility (Yaqoob et al., 2022; Kutlu et al., 2019).

Previous research has shown that adding exogenous carbohydrases in poultry diets, including cellulase, glucanase, xylanase and amylase, reportedly increased the nutrient digestibility (Cozannet et al., 2017) and improve energy and protein utilization, and growth rates (Saleh et al., 2019). Indeed, several research groups have reported beneficial responses to pure xylanase and a mixture of carbohydrates in maize-soybean based diets for ducks and chicks (Olukosi et al., 2007). Even so, it is suggested that, since carbohydrases may improve energy digestibility, their beneficial effects are more likely to be observed when applied to nutritionally marginal diets (Kocher et al., 2003). The main mechanism involved includes the exogenous enzymes’ ability to improve nutrient availability by reducing the intestinal digesta viscosity through the degradation of non-starch polysaccharides (Musigwa et al., 2021). Cellulase is class of enzymes that breaks down cellulose by hydrolysis. Amylase breaks down starch into sugar, and β-xylanase degrades the linear polysaccharide β-1,4-xylan into xylose, thus digesting the hemicellulose, the major components of plant cell walls. The digesta viscosity is reduced primarily by β-glucanase which catalyzes the digestion of plant’s α-glucosan into glucose. Most of the proteases, which breaks down proteins by hydrolyzing the protein’s peptide bond, work best in acidic conditions, except for alkaline proteases (Rahman et al., 2014). Several previous experiments have demonstrated fermentation of wheat bran using Trichoderma sp. to produce exogenous enzymes in animal feed production. Cavalcante et al. (2007) reported that wheat bran was the best substrate for producing Trichoderma spores for all strains tested, especially T. harzianum sp. (28.301 spores/gds) and T. viride sp. (24.101 spores/gds). Furthermore, Chua et al. (2017) reported that cellulase and xylananse activity of fermented wheat bran peaked at day 4, and solid-state fermentation (SSF) increased the reducing sugar content. Furthermore, they proposed that replacing a basal diet with fermented wheat bran could not only improve growth performance, but also cause optimal gut morphometry in broilers.

Therefore, the objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of natural multi-enzyme from Trichoderma fermented wheat bran on the growth performances, gut microflora, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of broilers reared in tropical climates.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Ethical Approval

This study was conducted in accordance with the protocol approved by The Animal Care Protocol Management and Review Committee of the Faculty of Animal Science and Agricultural Technology, Silpakorn University, Thailand (Record no. ASAT SU005/2562).

Animals, Experimental Design And Treatment Diets

In this study, one thousand one-day-old mixed-sex Ross 308® broiler chicks were randomly allocated to two dietary treatments in a completely randomized design (CRD). Each treatment was broken down into 10 replicates with 50 chicks (25 females and 25 males) each. Chicks were vaccinated for Newcastle disease, Marek’s disease, and Infectious Bronchitis disease at the hatchery, and for the Gumboro vaccine at 12 days of age. For the 42-day period of the experiment, all birds were raised in an open-sided house system in floor pens with fresh rice hulls. Dietary treatments were composed of group 1 (T1): normal commercial Thai diet (control) and group 2 (T2): T1 + natural multi-enzymes in the levels of 100 g/ton feed (top-up feeding). The natural multi-enzymes used in this study were a micro granular product made of endo-1, 4 xylanase (EC 3.2.1.8), endo-1, 4 glucanase, endo-1, 3(4) glucanase, 2-amylase, and protease, which were fermented on wheat bran by Trichoderma sp. All birds received drinking water provided by 4 water cups with 2-gallon capacity per replicate and received the feed in feeding tubs at 4 feeding tubs per replicate. All birds were provided ad libitum access to feed and water. The starter (from day 1 to day 21), grower (from day 21 to day 35), and finisher diets (from day 35 to day 42) were used. The nutrient content of the diets used in this study corresponded to the needs of broilers raised in tropical climates according to the National Research Council (1994) as presented in Table 1.

Measurement Of Productive Performance And Economic Benefit Return

Broiler chickens were raised for 42 days and observed daily. The feed intake, body weight, and mortality of the birds were recorded on days 21 (end of the starter phase), day 35 (i.e., the end of the grower stage), and day 42 (i.e., the end of the finisher phase). Feed intake and body weight by replicate were recorded at the beginning and the end of each week, and dead birds were recorded daily. Average daily feed intake (ADFI) (g/bird/day) = cumulative feed intake / (number of birds x number of days); Average daily gain (ADG) (g/bird/day) = final weight gain-initial weight/number of days; Feed conversion ratio (FCR: Feed/Gain) = cumulative feed intake (kg)/total weight gain (kg), were calculated as indicators of production performance following the formulas described by Marcu et al. (2013). Moreover, Mortality rate = (total birds died / total birds at time of housing) x 100 following the formulas described by Awobajo et al. (2017), viability rate = 100 - mortality rate, and productive index (PI) = [(Viability x BWG x 100) / (FCR x rearing day)] was calculated following the formula of Barbosa et al. (2017). In addition, economic benefit return indicators, such as feed cost per gain (FCG), net profits return per bird (NPR), salable bird return (SBR), and return of investment (ROI), were enumerated using the following formula: FCG = (FCR x feed cost x BWG), NPR = (SBR − FCG), SBR = (price of live chicken × BW), and ROI = (NPR/FCG) × 100 calculated after the experimental period according to the formulas of Ojediran et al. (2017).

Microbial Population In Cecal Content And Determination Of Viscosity In The Duodenal Content

At 42 days of age, a microbial assay was carried out by the method proposed by Torrallardona et al., (2003). One gram of mixed cecal contents from 4 birds (2 females and 2 males) from each replicate were diluted with 9 ml of Buffer-field phosphate buffer solution, followed by further serial dilution in Buffer-field phosphate buffer solution. Duplicated plates were incubated with a 0.1 ml sample and incubated. The microbial groups analyzed were anaerobic bacteria: Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp., which were grown on MRS ager at 35°C for 72 h under the anaerobic condition in an anaerobic jar (Byrd et al., 2022). Coliform bacteria and Escherichia coli were grown on violet red bile agar and MacConkey agar, respectively, at 24 h under aerobic conditions (Keeratipibula et al., 2011). Colonies on each plate were counted on a colony counter, and colony-forming units (CFU) were defined as distinct colonies measured more than 1 mm in diameter (Brugger et al., 2012). The bacterial population was then transformed using the base 10 log method suggested by Feng et al. (2014). The digestive tract was then removed in its entirety, and digesta was manually extracted into a 50-mL centrifuge tube. The method used to prepare the digesta sampling was carried out according to Ayres et al. (2018). The determination of digesta viscosity methodology used was carried out by the procedure suggested by Lamp et al. (2015).

Carcass Characteristics And Meat Quality Measurements

On day 42, four representative birds (2 females and 2 males) from each replicate nearest to the average pen weight were sampled for processing after fasting for 12 hours. The birds selected for processing were weighted for calculation of carcass and cutting percentages. Birds were electrically stunned, bled, scalded, mechanically picked, and manually eviscerated according to Sanchai (2000). The dressed weight (live weight - (weight of blood + feathers + shanks + head)), carcass weight (dressed weight - weight of viscera), and viscera weight (heart, liver, and gizzard) were recorded according to Singh et al. (2010). The carcass was placed on ice for 24 hour before the musculature from the breast area (breast fillet (Pectoralis major muscle), tender (Pectoralis minor muscle)), thigh, drum-stick, and wing (outer wing and inner wing) were recorded. Dressed percentage ((dressed weight / live weight) × 100), Eviscerate percentage ((carcass weight / live weight) × 100), and cutting percentage ((cutting part weight / live weight) × 100) were calculated using the method described by Singh et al. (2010).

The quality of meat was assessed using the breast meat

 

Table 1: Feed formula and analyzed composition of the experimental diets (dry matter basis)

Experimental diets	Starter (1–21 days)	Grower (21–35 days)	Finisher (35–42 days)
Ingredients composition (% as fed basis)
Maize	51.00	53.00	55.00
Rice bran	10.00	10.00	10.00
Soyabean meal, (48% CP)	26.46	24.36	21.50
Fish meal, (58% CP)	6.00	6.00	6.00
Rice bran oil	3.63	4.16	5.00
Dicalcium phosphate (DCP)	0.95	0.69	0.69
Calcium carbonate	0.93	0.81	0.81
Sodium chloride	0.35	0.35	0.35
DL-Methionine	0.18	0.14	0.15
Vitamin–mineral premix1	0.50	0.50	0.50
Total	100.00	100.00	100.00
Laboratory analyzed composition (%)2
Dry matter	88.34	90.21	88.19
Organic matter	94.83	95.17	95.83
Crude protein	21.61	19.03	17.10
Ether extract	4.89	5.52	7.17
Crude fiber	2.38	3.03	3.48
Total calcium	0.89	1.03	0.92
Total phosphorus	0.59	0.57	0.58
Salt (NaCl)	0.42	0.43	0.47

1Each one kilogram of vitamin–mineral premix contained 20.02 MIU of retinal palmitate, 9.10 MIU of cholecalciferol, 136.50 g of DL-3-tocophyryl acetate, 5.46 g of phylloquinone, 5.46 g of thiamine, 14.56 g of riboflavin, 27.30 g of Ca-D-pantothenate, 7.28 g of pyridoxine, 109.20 g of niacin, 3.64 g of folic acid, 29.12 mg of cobalamin, 237.00 mg of D-biotin, 120 g of manganese, 3.00 g of selenium, 1,000 mg of zinc, 160.00 mg of copper, 400.00 mg of ferrous, 12.50 g of iodine

2The analyzed composition of the basal diets used in this experiment which a commercial broiler chicken diets from Mittraphap Feed Mill Co., Ltd.

samples. For pH score at 24 hour, 3 g samples of chicken breasts (at 24 h after slaughter) were homogenized with 27 mL of distilled water in a homogenizer at 6,000 rpm for 30 sec. The pH value was then measured three times using an electronic pH meter according to Tuell et al., (2020). Color of breast meat (at 24 h after slaughter) measured including lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*) using a Minota 410 Chromameter as described by Pathare et al. (2013). Drip loss and cooking loss were measured as an indication of the water holding capacity, following the procedure according to the previously established method described by Yaqoob et al. (2022). To measure the shear force of the meat using the Warner-Bratzier Meat Shear apparatus, the cooked places of the breast meat were cut to obtain six cores (20 x 13 x 13 mm) on each breast sample 6-8 (carrot) according to Zakaria et al. (2010).

Statistical Analysis

Data were analyzed using ANOVA and the difference between dietary treatment means was compared by T-test according to the recommendation of Steel and Torrie (1980) with the R Core Team’s description of R program version 3.5.1 (2018). Treatment effects were declared significant at P < 0.05, and tendencies for treatment effects were declared at 0.05 < P < 0.01. The following statistical model for the experiment was used:

Yij = µ + Ti + eij

Where;

Yij = Measured response,

μ = Overall mean,

Ti = effect of treatment (I = supplementation of natural multi-enzymes in the levels of 0 and 100 g/ton feed (top-up feeding)),

eij = random error associated with Yij observation.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The effects of natural multi-enzymes supplementation on the growth performances of broilers reared in tropical climate are shown in Table 2. The dietary treatments had no effects (P > 0.05) on the feed intake, body weight, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, and feed cost per kilogram body weight of broilers during 1-21 days of age. However, it was found that the viability rate of the treatment that was supplemented with natural multiple-enzymes at the level of 100 g/ton feed by top-up feeding was significantly (P < 0.05) higher when compared to the control group not supplemented with natural multiple-enzymes. Additionally, feed intake, body weight, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, feed cost per kilogram bodyweight, and viability rate were unaffected by the dietary treatments between 22 and 35 days of age. During 35-42 days of age, the dietary treatments had no effect (P > 0.05) on the feed intake, body weight, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, feed cost per kilogram body weight, and viability rate. The dietary treatments during the 35–42 day period did not affect feed intake, body weight, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, feed cost per kilogram bodyweight, and viability rate (P > 0.05). The dietary treatments had no effects on the total productivity between 1 and 42 days (P > 0.05) with respect to feed intake, body weight, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, and viability rate. This result was supported by the report of Dalólio et al. (2016) who reported that supplementation of exogenous enzyme complex consisting of phytase, protease, xylanase, β-glucanase, cellulase, amylase, and pectinase in broiler diets did not significantly affect the feed intake, body weight, body weight gain and feed to gain ratio of broilers. Mohammed et al. (2018) reported that multi-enzyme supplementation in broiler chicken diets had no effect on the performance parameters, with the exception of feed intake, body weight, body weight gain, and feed conversion ratio on days 22–35 (P > 0.05).

Although the performance parameters were not clearly affected by the addition of natural multi-enzyme to the diet in this trial. However, the current study found that adding natural multi-enzyme to the diet increased the productive index of broiler significantly over the control group during 0–21 (P < 0.05), 35–42 (P < 0.01), and 0–42 days (P < 0.01). Furthermore, adding natural multi-enzyme to the diet decreased feed cost per gain in comparison to the control group (P < 0.05). In addition, the natural multi-enzyme supplementation in the diet increased salable bird return, net profits return per bird and return on investment as compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Because the broiler industry prioritizes high production rates, the efficient use of external enzyme would serve as an important factor to increase the economic returns (Ravindran, 2013). These findings can be explained by the following scientific principles as follows. In the gastrointestinal tract of broilers, there is no endogenous enzyme for NSP digestion. As a result, the inability of NSP to be digested in the gut resulted in a loss of energy in broiler feed. The use of exogenous enzymes can assist in converting the NSP into short-chain carbohydrates that the broilers can utilize (Rahman et al., 2014). This enzyme preparation contains β-glucanase, protease, and cellulose activity, which may improve the digestion of NSP and protein because it improves the partially broken-down cell wall matrix, allowing encapsulated intracellular nutrients to be released, (Shirmohammad and Mehri, 2011) as well as facilitating contact between endogenous digestive enzymes and their substrates, thus improving the overall nutrient utilization in corn-soy base diets (Zeng et al., 2015). The addition of glucanase counteracted these effects by significantly increasing villi compared to the control group, resulting in changes in nutrient absorption and enhanced productivity performance (Balamurugan et al., 2011).

The duodenal viscosity, which is generally the results of the use of viscous grains and microbial population in the cecal content of broilers, can be improved by natural multi-enzyme supplementation. At 42 days of age (Table 3), the dietary treatments had no effect (P > 0.05) on duodenal viscosity, Escherichia coli, Coliform bacteria, Bifidobacterium spp., and Lactobacillus spp. population in cecal. The authors had suggested that if the formula composed of the regular ingredients such as corn or soybean meal, which had very low non-starch polysaccharide, it has no effect on the gut viscosity when supplemented with exogenous enzyme. These results are consistent with the report of Engberg et al. (2004) who reported that the counts of Loctobicllus spp. tend to be higher and the counts of Coliform bacteria tend to be lower in caecum content of broilers fed diets with exogenous xylanase supplementation than that the control group. In addition, these results are in agreement with the report of Gao et al. (2008) who reported that supplementation of exogenous xylanase in broiler diets did not significantly affect the viscosity in duodenum and also did not significantly affect the cecal microbial population.

The effect of natural multiple–enzyme supplementation on carcass characteristics and meat quality of broilers reared in tropical climates are shown in Table 4. The dietary treatments exhibited no significant different effect (P > 0.05) on carcass composition such as dressed percentage, eviscerate percentage, cutting percentage, and viscera percentage as compared to the control. In addition, the pH, meat color in terms of lightness, redness, and yellowness as well as water holding capacity in terms of cooking loss and drip loss were unaffected by the dietary treatments. Moreover, it was also found that supplementation of natural multiple-enzyme not significantly improved the breast meat tenderness (P>0.05). This result is in agreement with previous reports of Dalólio et al. (2016) who reported that exogenous enzyme supplementation had no effect on the relative weight of carcass composition, meat quality and

 

Table 2: Effect of natural multiple-enzyme supplementation on growth performances and economic benefit return of broilers

Growth performances and economic benefit return1/	Level of natural multi-enzyme supplementation in diets		P-value
	Control	100 g/ton
Growth performances
1-21 days of age
Feed intake (g/bird)	1,195.90±9.22	1,188.60±7.17	NS
Body weight (g/bird)	846.81±12.11	852.16±14.65	NS
Body weight gain (g/bird)	801.92±11.83	808.51±14.74	NS
Feed conversion ratio	1.46±0.014	1.45±0.017	NS
Viability rate (%)	99.40±0.43	99.80±0.20	*
Productive index	259.98±1.86	264.99±2.54	*
22-35 days of age
Feed intake (g/bird)	1,738.40±20.46	1,704.10±12.38	NS
Body weight (g/bird)	1,766.80±24.93	1,751.30±16.64	NS
Body weight gain (g/bird)	906.95±20.32	899.36±17.37	NS
Feed conversion ratio	1.92±0.02	1.89±0.02	NS
Viability rate (%)	97.82±1.06	99.00±1.34	NS
Productive index	331.78±3.45	336.36±2.91	NS
35-42 days of age
Feed intake (g/bird)	1,113.70±24.61	1,109.90±40.94	NS
Body weight (g/bird)	2,285.50±19.98	2,305.90±32.11	NS
Body weight gain (g/bird)	539.46±18.27	553.68±23.18	NS
Feed conversion ratio	2.06±0.07	2.02±0.08	NS
Viability rate (%)	94.75±2.10	95.90±1.56	NS
Productive index	354.16±3.69	375.05±4.27	**
1-42 days of age
Feed intake (g/bird)	4,047.90±35.47	4,002.60±42.54	NS
Body weight (g/bird)	2,285.50±19.98	2,305.90±32.11	NS
Body weight gain (g/bird)	2,248.30±24.32	2,261.50±32.21	NS
Feed conversion ratio	1.80±0.07	1.76±0.08	NS
Viability rate (%)	92.18±2.70	94.90±1.70	NS
Productive index	274.10±1.67	290.27±2.08	**
Economic benefit return#(USD/bird)
Feed cost per gain	2.38+0.01	2.34+0.01	*
Salable bird return	2.68±0.02	2.71±0.03	*
Net profits return	0.30±0.01	0.37±0.01	*
Return of investment (%)	12.60±0.20	15.81±0.31	*

1/ Values are means of ten replicates of 50 chicks each, presented as means + SEM

NS: not significant, *: P < 0.05, **: P < 0.01.

1 USD = 38.325 THB,

# Feed cost per gain (FCR x feed cost (0.587 USD/Kg) x BWG), Salable bird return = (Price of live chicken (1.175 USD) x Body weight), Net profits return per bird = (SBR – FCG), and Return of investment = (NPR /FCG) x 100

pH of broilers. In addition, these findings were consistent with previous reports of Mohammed et al. (2018) who found that adding multi-enzymes to broiler diets had no impact on carcass and meat quality parameters as well as Yaqoob et al. (2018) who discovered that the addition of multi-enzymes to broiler diets had no effect on the cutting weight, internal organs weight, shear force and color of the breast meat.

 

Table 3: Effect of natural multiple-enzyme supplementation on viscosity of duodenal content and cecal microbial population of broilers at 42 days of age

Duodenal content viscosity and cecal microbial population1/	Level of natural multi-enzyme supplementation in diets		P-value
	Control	100 g/ton
Viscosity of duodenal content (CPS)	14.36±1.405	14.58±2.08	NS
Cecal microbial population (Log 10 CFU/ml)
Bifidobacterium spp.	5.79±0.25	5.96±0.28	NS
Lactobacillus spp.	5.87±0.23	5.88±0.26	NS
Escherichia coli	5.46±0.27	5.72±0.29	NS
Coliform bacteria	5.35±0.23	5.30±0.23	NS

1/ Values are means of ten replicates of 50 chicks each, presented as means + SEM

NS: not significant

 

Table 4: Effect of natural multiple-enzyme supplementation on carcass characteristic and meat quality of broilers 42 days of age

Carcass characteristic and meat quality 1/	Level of natural multi-enzyme supplementation in diets		P-value
	Control	100 g/ton
Carcass characteristic
Live weight (g/b)	2,292.00±27.85	2,302.00±35.18	NS
Carcass percentage (%)
Dressed percentage	91.97±0.20	92.51±1.30	NS
Eviscerate percentage	88.47±0.18	88.09±0.22	NS
Cutting percentage (%)
Pectoralis major muscle	19.40±0.37	18.96±0.36	NS
Pectoralis minor muscle	3.71±0.04	3.61±0.08	NS
Thigh	12.46±0.22	12.48±0.31	NS
Drumstick	10.21±0.16	9.92±0.13	NS
Outer wing	3.74±0.33	3.75±0.04	NS
Inter wing	4.17±0.09	4.15±0.07	NS
Viscera organ percentage (%)
Liver	2.22±0.05	2.24±0.07	NS
Gizzard	1.49±0.05	1.53±0.03	NS
Heart	0.52±0.02	0.49±0.01	NS
Meat quality
Breast meat pH (score)	5.87±0.03	5.84±0.03	NS
Breast meat color
L* (Lightness)	57.50±3.44	58.50±2.11	NS
a* (Redness)	3.04±0.15	3.21±0.17	NS
b* (Yellowness)	13.51±0.31	12.82±0.28	NS
Water holding capacity (%)
Cooking loss	21.32±1.37	22.58±1.40	NS
Drip loss	3.40±0.38	3.24±0.29	NS
Shear force (kg/cm2)	1.34±0.10	1.32±0.05	NS

1/ Values are means of ten replicates of 50 chicks each, presented as means + SEM

NS: not significant

CONCLUSION

Natural multi-enzyme supplementation, when fed with commercial broiler diets, had no effect on the growth performance of broilers reared in tropical climates. However, supplementation of natural multi-enzyme significantly increased viability rate of broilers during the starter period. In addition, natural multi-enzyme supplementation showed positive effects on the productivity index as well as salable bird return, net profits return per bird, and return of investment of broiler chicken production. It was also found that supplementation of natural multi-enzyme had no effect on duodenal content viscosity, cecal microbial population, carcass composition and meat quality of broilers.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors would like to express a great appreciation to the Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Rajamagala University of Technology Srivijaya for the facility and technical support for this trial. The authors are very grateful to the Faculty of Animal Sciences and Agricultural Technology, Silpakorn University for the laboratory and technical support for this experiment.

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

The authors declared no conflict of interest.

novelty statement

This research investigated a novel feed additive from natural source with high safety for broiler production in Tropical climates. The research also provides evidence of improved economic benefit return from the experimenented natural feed additive.

AUTHORS’ CONTRIBUTION

KS: Conceptualized, husbandry work, laboratory work, data collected and analysis. HP and AT: laboratory work. SC: Editing and revising the manuscript. MN: Conceptualized, and wrote the manuscript. The final manuscript was read and approved by all authors.

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