Enzyme Management

The Alltech® Feed Efficiency program supports your animals in achieving optimal health throughout their life cycle, addressing nutritional issues such as digestibility, diet flexibility, feed costs and overall performance.

With feed costs often accounting for up to 70 percent of production costs, it is important to make sure each bite of feed is digested efficiently.

The Alltech Feed Efficiency program utilizes technologies that work in synergy with the animal’s own digestive system to provide additional protein, amino acids and minerals for digestion. Supporting the animal's digestive system can help maximize nutrient release, achieve consistent performance and reduce the overall costs of feed.

Maximizing Feed Efficiency

One of the biggest challenges for the feed industry and animal nutrition as a whole is the rising cost of feed, which can account for up to 70% of total production expenses. Furthermore, around 25% of the available nutrients in feed ingredients cannot be fully utilized by the animal due to anti-nutritional factors. Today, the greatest challenge for the feed industry — and especially for nutritionists — is to reduce this indigestible fraction and maximize feed efficiency based on nutritional and economic factors, which can often vary and may be unique to each production system.

Feed costs represent the biggest input for producers, often accounting for up to 70% OF TOTAL PRODUCTION COSTS. Around 25% OF NUTRIENTS ARE LOST due to anti-nutritional factors in feed.

How can we provide the growing world population with food while maximizing feed efficiency in a sustainable way?

Together, we can maximize feed efficiency. The Alltech® Enzyme Management program utilizes unique technologies backed by science that work in synergy with the animal’s digestive tract and target the complete diet to optimize the potential of the feed by reducing the anti-nutritional effects, improving nutrient release and feed digestibility. As a result, fewer nutrients are released into the environment, saving producers money while providing sustainable benefits for the animal and the planet.

What are Enzymes?

Enzymes are protein-based molecules that speed up specific chemical reactions. They break down a larger molecule into one or more smaller molecules, or they combine smaller molecules into a large molecule. Either way, enzymes help convert a less digestible component of feed (e.g., fiber) into a more easily absorbed form for animals to utilize.

Enzyme mode of action:

• The enzyme attracts substrates to its active site.
• Enzyme and substrate bind.
• The combination formed by the enzyme and its substrates is called the enzyme–substrate complex.
• The bond breaks during digestion, forming an enzyme-product complex.
• Products/nutrients are released.

Main feed enzyme categories

Phytase, carbohydrase and protease are some of the most common feed enzymes typically considered in the animal feed industry. Each of these three feed enzyme categories has a specific role and function in the animal that results in benefits for producers. However, certain enzymes can only react with certain substrates.

Carbohydrases break down fiber to improve the digestibility of carbohydrates in feed, thus increasing the amount of nutrients an animal can use for energy. Carbohydrases help to degrade anti-nutritional factors, such as non-starch polysaccharides (NSP). The primary types of carbohydrases used in animal nutrition include xylanase, which breaks down arabinoxylans; beta-glucanase, which breaks down glucans; and cellulase, which breaks down cellulose. Proteases increase the digestibility of proteins and amino acids. Protease enzymes are also capable of breaking apart proteins that bind starch within feed ingredients, thus making more of the energy found in starch available to the animal.

Phytases increase the digestibility of phytate, which improves the overall availability of dietary phosphorus. The addition of phytase in feed results in a lower excretion of the phosphorous content in manure, contributing to a lower environmental impact of livestock farming.

What should you keep in mind when looking for the right enzyme?

• Not all enzymes are created equal
• Look for products that offer reliability
• Enzymes must match the substrate in the diet
• Target the complete diet Look for valid nutrient values for feed formulation
• Get the most out of the diet

How can the Alltech Enzyme Management program benefit you?

Our feed enzyme technologies have implications beyond cost savings. Our range of feed enzymes helps improve gut health, animal welfare and the environment, allowing you to potentially triple your bottom line.

Profit

• Reduces feed costs
• Greater feedstuff utilization
• Reduces variability

Performance

• Optimizes feed digestibility
• Promotes a healthy digestive system
• Reduces gut viscosity, enabling animals to digest and absorb more nutrients

Planet

• Reduces environmental impact
• Less soybean meal, oil and phosphates needed
• Lowers the manure output in terms of the excretion of nitrogen and phosphorus

Feed enzyme production: A unique solid state fermentation (SSF) process

Backed by science since 1980

Alltech has pioneered the production of enzymes. Our years of research and collaboration make it possible for us to provide producers with the most unique SSF enzyme technologies in the animal feed industry.

A unique solid state fermentation (SSF) process

How does it work?

1. Strain selection SSF is a naturally occurring process, breaking down substrate by the production and release of specific enzymes. In a production system, specific fungal strains are selected.
2. Liquid Fermentation These fungal strains are then grown in a liquid media.
3. Substrate ready for fermentation This substrate enters Alltech’s state-of-the-art tray fermentation chamber, where it incubates for up to five days.
4. Solid state fermentation process During this time, the fungus grows rapidly and secretes enzymes to break down the substrate (solid media) to release nutrients required for continued growth.
5. Substrate drying process The substrate is then dried and standardized for enzyme activities and passed through quality control. The result is ALLZYME®