Sonia Yun Liu

Steam-pelleting temperatures, grain variety, feed form and protease supplementation of mediumly ground, sorghum-based broiler diets: influences on growth performance, relative gizzard weights, nutrient utilisation, starch and nitrogen digestibility

A red sorghum was mediumly ground (3.2 mm) and incorporated into broiler diets that were steam-pelleted at conditioning temperatures of 65, 80 and 95°C and offered to male Ross 308 chicks from 7 to 28 days post hatch. This diet was also fed as unprocessed mash, reground mash following steam-pelleting at 95°C and diets steam-pelleted at 80°C were fed without and with exogenous protease. A nutritionally equivalent diet based on a mediumly ground white sorghum steam-pelleted at 95°C completed the seven dietary treatments each of which were offered to seven replicates of six birds per cage. The effects of treatment on growth performance, relative gizzard weights, nutrient utilisation [apparent metabolisable energy (AME), nitrogen (N) retention, and N-corrected AME] and apparent digestibility coefficients of starch and N in four segments of the small intestine (proximal and distal jejunum, proximal and distal ileum) were determined. Elevating conditioning temperatures at which the red sorghum-based diets were steam-pelleted reduced their protein solubilities and linearly reduced concentrations of free sulfydryl groups (P 0.50). Increasing conditioning temperatures influenced N digestibility coefficients in the distal jejunum (P < 0.01) and distal ileum (P < 0.05) in a quadratic manner. N coefficients varied from 0.565 to 0.538 and 0.638 in the distal jejunum with increasing conditioning temperatures; however, starch digestibility coefficients were not significantly influenced by conditioning temperatures. Birds offered the white sorghum-based pelleted diet conditioned at 95°C significantly outperformed (P < 0.05) their red sorghum counterparts in terms of weight gain, feed per gain, AME, N retention, starch and N digestibility coefficients in the distal ileum. The differences in starch digestibility between the two sorghum varieties along the small intestine were pronounced and the possible contributing factors are considered. Diets fed as intact pellets generated greater feed intakes and weight gains than the average of the two mash diets. In red sorghum-based diets, distal ileal starch digestibility coefficients of intact pellets were inferior to the unprocessed and reground mash. However, the distal ileal N digestibility coefficient of the unprocessed mash diet was 3.5% higher than the reground mash diet and 8.3% higher than the intact pelleted diet. The inclusion of a Bacillus lichenformis-derived protease in red sorghum-based steam-pelleted at 80°C significantly (P < 0.05) increased N digestibility coefficients in the distal jejunum, proximal ileum and distal ileum. Also, this protease significantly increased starch digestibility coefficients in the distal jejunum and proximal ileum. The implications of these findings in respect of feeding broiler chickens sorghum-based diets are discussed.

Steam-pelleting and feed form of broiler diets based on three coarsely ground sorghums influences growth performance,nutrient utilisation, starch and nitrogen digestibility

Sorghum grains with red, white and yellow seed colours were coarsely ground and incorporated into nutritionally equivalent diets that were offered to broiler chicks in three feed forms. The diets were fed as mash or steam-pelleted at a conditioning temperature of 90°C and fed as intact pellets or ground back into mash as reground pellets. The effects of a 3 × 3 factorial array of dietary treatments offered to male chicks from 6 to 27 days post-hatch on growth performance, nutrient utilisation and apparent digestibility coefficients of starch and nitrogen (N) at the proximal jejunum, proximal ileum and distal ileum were determined. Feed form had a greater impact on the parameters assessed than did sorghum seed colour, but several interactions between these main effects were observed. Steam-pelleting diets reduced protein solubility and this was correlated with increased concentrations of disulfide bonds and decreased concentrations of free sulphydryl groups. Steam-pelleting diets significantly depressed N retention in broiler chicks and this reduction was appropriately correlated with concentrations of disulfide bonds and free sulphydryl groups and dietary protein solubility. While N retention was depressed, in a curious outcome, steam-pelleting diets did not compromise N digestibility along the small intestine. Steam-pelleting diets significantly increased starch digestibility coefficients in the proximal jejunum, with differing responses among the sorghums, but not in the two ileal levels. Phytate concentrations in the three sorghums were negatively correlated with N digestibility coefficients at the proximal jejunum and proximal ileum. The implications of the present feeding study in relation to the performance of broiler chickens offered steam-pelleted, sorghum-based diets are discussed.

A consideration of starch and protein digestive dynamics in chicken-meat production

The hypothesis that glucose and amino acids should be made available in appropriately balanced quantities at the sites of protein synthesis for efficient protein deposition and growth performance is not new in animal nutrition. The objective of this review is to consider starch and protein digestive dynamics in light of recent developments and research outcomes in relation to chicken-meat production. This will concentrate on the concept that catabolism of amino acids in enterocytes provides energy for the gut and slowly digestible starch benefits performance. These are supported by relatively recent developments and studies with reducing agents. Practices such as whole grain feeding, hydrothermally processing diets, addition of exogenous enzymes and synthetic amino acids to broiler diets modify starch and protein digestive dynamics. It may be possible to enhance feed conversion efficiency of broiler chickens by manipulating starch and protein digestive dynamics and likelihood of using these methods is considered in this review.

The kinetics of starch and nitrogen digestion regulate growth performance and nutrient utilisation of broilers fed coarsely ground, sorghum-based diets

A study was conducted to examine the effect of starch and nitrogen digestion kinetics on broiler performance using sorghum-based diets as a model. Three sorghum varieties with red, white and yellow pericarps and three feed forms, mash, intact pellets and reground pellets, constituted a 3 × 3 factorial array of dietary treatments. Starch and nitrogen digestion kinetics were determined using an exponential mathematical model to relate digestion coefficients in the proximal jejunum, proximal ileum and distal ileum with mean retention times in each segment. There were interactions between sorghum variety and feed form for starch and nitrogen digestion kinetics. Steam-pelleting at a conditioning temperature of 90°C (unprocessed mash versus reground pellets) substantially influenced starch digestion rate in red and yellow sorghum-based diets, but not in white sorghum-based diets. Alternatively, with nitrogen digestion rate, there were no significant differences in yellow sorghum-based diets between feed forms but there were in red and white sorghum-based diets. The digestion rate of starch was more rapid than nitrogen, especially in the proximal jejunum. Starch digestion rates were significantly correlated with nitrogen retention but this was not the case with nitrogen digestion rates. The rate of glucose absorption from predicted glycaemic indices was highly correlated with enhanced feed efficiency. Thus this study demonstrates that even under ad libitum feeding regimes, kinetics of starch and protein digestion regulated feed efficiency and nitrogen retention in broiler chickens. The dynamics of starch and protein digestion were more accurate indicators of feed efficiency and nitrogen retention than apparent ileal starch and nitrogen digestibility.

Starch utilisation in chicken-meat production: the foremost influential factors

Starch is the chief dietary energy source for chicken-meat production, the majority of which is derived from the grain basis of diets for broiler chickens. The utilisation of starch from maize is of a high order in terms of ileal starch digestibility coefficients but this is not necessarily the case with wheat or sorghum. This may stem from the fact that maize essentially lacks the soluble non-starch polysaccharides in wheat and ‘non-tannin’ phenolic compounds found in sorghum. Numerous factors may influence starch digestibility with emphasis placed on starch–protein interactions as starch granules are located in the prolamin protein matrixes of grain endosperm. This close proximity facilitates any physical and chemical interactions and in this connection particular attention has been paid to kafirin, the dominant protein fraction in sorghum. Nevertheless, despite their apparent importance, the precise nature of starch–protein interactions has not been well defined. Exogenous phytases are routinely included in broiler diets primarily to liberate phytate-bound phosphorus; however, phytate may impede starch digestion and may retard glucose absorption. Additional feed additives, including non-starch polysaccharide-degrading enzymes, other exogenous enzymes and reducing agents may have the capacity to influence starch utilisation. Nevertheless, ileal and total tract starch digestibility coefficients are static parameters and overlook the digestive dynamics of starch, which is inappropriate given the possibility that slowly digestible starch enhances energy utilisation and feed conversion efficiency. However, if the slowly digestible starch concept is valid, the underlying mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. Consideration is given to the suggestion that slowly digestible starch ameliorates the catabolism of amino acids to provide energy to the gut mucosa by increasing the provision of glucose to posterior small intestinal segments. There is the prospect that whole grain feeding provides slowly digestible starch in addition to generating heavier relative gizzard weights. The digestive dynamics of starch and protein are inter-related and the digestion of starch and absorption of glucose should not be considered in isolation from protein digestion and amino acid absorption in the quest to improve the performance of broiler chickens. The foremost factor influencing starch utilisation in chicken-meat production may be the interaction between starch and protein digestive dynamics.

Whole-grain feeding for chicken-meat production: possible mechanisms driving enhanced energy utilisation and feed conversion

The practice of offering some whole grain to broiler chickens alongside a balancing concentrate is meeting increasing acceptance in certain regions, including Europe, Canada and Australia. Whole-grain feeding (WGF) regimes provide economic advantages by effectively reducing feed costs but, to varying extents, WGF regimes also generate improvements in energy utilisation and feed conversion efficiency. However, the context in which these improvements are best realised has yet to be defined adequately. The outstanding response to WGF is the development of heavier relative gizzard weights; however, the causative factors and biophysical and biochemical consequences of heavier, and presumably more functional, gizzards have not been properly investigated. It follows that heavier gizzards would enhance the initiation of protein digestion by pepsin and hydrochloric acid and facilitate amylase-induced starch digestion in the small intestine by the prior physical disruption of starch granules. However, it appears that improvements realised by WGF in energy utilisation and feed efficiency cannot be attributed entirely to heavier gizzards. One alternative or additional possibility is that WGF may influence starch digestive dynamics and provide more gradually or slowly digestible starch, which would benefit energy utilisation and feed efficiency. However, if this is the case, the genesis of this provision is not clear, although it may be associated with larger grain particle sizes and/or increased episodes of reverse peristalsis, but not retarded gut passage rates. The present paper reviews the essentially positive impacts of WGF on energy utilisation and feed conversion efficiency and considers the contexts in which these responses may be best realised and the possible mechanisms driving better performance under WGF regimes for chicken-meat production.

Performance of broiler chickens offered nutritionally-equivalent diets based on two red grain sorghums with quantified kafirin concentrations as intact pellets or re-ground mash following steam-pelleting at 65 or 97°C conditioning temperatures

The Liverpool Plains is a fertile agricultural region in New South Wales, Australia. Two sorghums from the 2009 Liverpool Plains harvest, sorghums #3 and #5, were extensively characterised which included concentrations of kafirin and phenolic compounds plus rapid visco-analysis (RVA) starch pasting profiles. Diets based on these two sorghums were formulated to be iso-nitrogenous and iso-energetic and were offered to male Ross 308 broiler chicks from 7 to 28 days post--hatch as either intact pellets or reground mash following steam-pelleting at conditioning temperatures of either 65 or 97°C. Thus the feeding study consisted of a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial array of dietary treatments: two sorghum varieties, two feed forms and two conditioning temperatures. Each of the eight treatments was replicated six times with six birds per replicate cage. Assessed parameters included growth performance, nutrient utilisation, apparent starch and protein (N) digestibility coefficients and disappearance rates from the distal jejunum and distal ileum. Intact pellets supported higher (P < 0.001) feed intakes and weight gains by 9.83 and 9.08%, respectively, than reground mash diets. Feed conversion ratios of broilers offered diets steam-conditioned at 97°C were 2.46% inferior (P < 0.001) in comparison to 65°C diets and both apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and N-corrected AME (AMEn) were compromised. Broilers offered sorghum #3-based diets significantly (P < 0.001) outperformed their sorghum #5 counterparts in terms of weight gain by 3.75% (1,334 versus 1,223 g/bird), FCR by 4.81% (1.524 versus 1.601), AME by 1.06 MJ (13.61 versus 12.55 MJ/kg), ME:GE ratio (ME:GE) by 4.81% (0.806 versus 0.769) and AMEn by 1.03 MJ (12.38 versus 11.35 MJ/kg). The inferiority of sorghum #5 appeared to be associated with higher concentrations of kafirin (61.5 versus 50.7 g/kg) and conjugated phenolic acids, including ferulic acid (31.1 versus 25.6 µg/g). There were no significant differences in jejunal and ileal starch and protein (N) digestibility coefficients between the two sorghums. However, starch to protein (N) disappearance rate ratios from the distal jejunum were significantly (P < 0.001) correlated with ME:GE and AME. The multiple linear regression equations indicated that energy utilisation was enhanced by coupling rapidly digestible protein with slowly digestible starch, which suggests that bilateral bioavailability of starch and protein is pivotal to efficient energy utilisation.

Steam-pelleting temperatures and grain variety of finely ground, sorghum-based broiler diets. 1. Influence on growth performance, relative gizzard weights, nutrient utilisation, starch and nitrogen digestibility

Sorghum-based diets were offered to male Ross 308 chicks from 7 to 28 days post-hatch as a 2 × 3 factorial array of treatments. The diets were based on either a white (Liberty) or red (Venture) sorghum that were finely ground through a 2.0-mm hammer-mill screen before incorporation into diets that were steam-pelleted at conditioning temperatures of 70°C, 80°C and 90°C. Protein solubilities and concentrations of disulfide bonds and free sulfydryl groups in sorghums and sorghum-based diets were determined. Concentrations of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities in both sorghums were analysed and the presence or absence of a pigmented testa was detected. In vivo parameters assessed included growth performance, relative gizzard weights, nutrient utilisation and apparent starch and nitrogen (N) digestibility coefficients were determined at four small-intestinal sites. Increasing conditioning temperatures depressed dietary protein solubilities and induced changes in concentrations of disulfide bonds and free sulfydryl groups that were more pronounced in red sorghum-based diets. The red sorghum contained a higher concentration of phenolic compounds and had a higher antioxidant activity than did white sorghum. A pigmented testa was not present in both sorghums, which indicates that they do not contain condensed tannin. There was a significant interaction between sorghum type and conditioning temperature for weight gain; however, diets based on white or red sorghums did not generate any significant differences in weight gains, feed intakes or feed conversion ratios as main effects. It was anticipated that birds would perform better on white sorghum-based diets but the likelihood is that the fine 2.0-mm grind disadvantaged the softer-textured white sorghum. As main effects, red sorghum-based diets had significantly higher densities of N-corrected apparent metabolisable energy, a higher starch digestibility coefficient in the distal jejunum and higher N digestibility coefficients in the distal jejunum, proximal ileum and distal ileum than did white sorghum-based diets. Red sorghum-based diets generated significantly heavier relative gizzard weights, which appeared to enhance N digestibility coefficients relative to the white sorghum diets. Increasing conditioning temperatures linearly increased starch digestibility coefficients in the proximal jejunum and distal ileum and N digestibility coefficients in the proximal jejunum, distal jejunum and distal ileum to significant extents. Conditioning temperatures did not significantly influence gizzard weights or parameters of growth performance and nutrient utilisation. Several significant interactions between the main effects were observed, which suggests that the two sorghums responded somewhat differently to increasing conditioning temperatures.

Addition of sodium metabisulfite and microbial phytase, individually and in combination, to a sorghum-based diet for broiler chickens from 7 to 28 days post-hatch

Sodium metabisulfite (SMBS; 1.75 g/kg) and phytase (1000 FTU/kg), individually and in combination, were included in steam-pelleted, sorghum-based (580 g/kg) broiler diets from 7 to 28 days post-hatch. Rapid visco-analysis starch pasting properties of dietary treatments were monitored. Parameters of growth performance, nutrient utilisation, relative organ weights, toe ash, excreta moisture, apparent starch and nitrogen digestibility coefficients and disappearance rates in four small intestinal segments were determined. There were significant treatment interactions in the proximal jejunum (P < 0.01) and distal ileum (P < 0.05) for nitrogen digestibility coefficients. SMBS alone significantly increased jejunal nitrogen digestibility by 14.9% (0.634 vs 0.552) but the response to SMBS in combination with phytase was negligible (0.558 vs 0.552). SMBS alone significantly increased ileal nitrogen digestibility by 4.92% (0.786 vs 0.732) but the combination numerically improved digestibility by 0.96% (0.739 vs 0.732). SMBS alone tended to increase starch digestibility by 12.0% (0.691 vs 0.617; P = 0.064) in the proximal jejunum and increased rapidly digestible starch by 17.2% (116 vs 99 g/bird.day; P < 0.02). However, SMBS tended to depress apparent metabolisable energy by 0.33 MJ (P < 0.10). Therefore, consideration is given to the mechanisms influencing starch digestion rates, energy utilisation and nitrogen digestibility interactions between SMBS and phytase in this feeding study.

Reducing agent and exogenous protease additions, individually and in combination, to wheat- and sorghum-based diets interactively influence parameters of nutrient utilisation and digestive dynamics in broiler chickens

The objective of the study was to investigate the possibility that tandem inclusions of a reducing agent and a protease may advantage chicken-meat production and to ascertain if the established benefits of including sodium metabisulphite in sorghum-based diets extend to wheat-based diets. The study comprised a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial array of treatments in which either nutritionally iso-nitrogenous and iso-energetic wheat- or sorghum-based diets, without and with sodium metabisulphite (2.75 g/kg), without and with protease (1,000 units/kg) were offered to broiler chickens from 7 to 28 days post–hatch. The effects of dietary treatments on growth performance, nutrient utilisation, protein (N) and starch digestibility coefficients and digestive dynamics were determined. A preliminary investigation into the effects of two treatments on concentrations of free amino acids and glucose in the portal circulation was conducted. There was significant feed grain by sodium metabisulphite interactions (P = 0.03 to 0.005) for parameters of nutrient utilisation (AME, ME:GE ratios, N retention, AMEn). For example, sodium metabisulphite inclusions in sorghum-based diets enhanced AME by 0.18 MJ (12.47 versus 12.29 MJ/kg) but depressed AME by 0.43 MJ (11.88 versus 12.31 MJ/kg) in wheat-based diets. There was a linear relationship between starch:protein disappearance rate ratios in the distal ileum with weight gain (r = −0.484; P = 0.0012) indicating that condensed ratios (or absorption of more protein relative to starch) advantaged growth performance. Concentrations of free amino acids in the portal circulation or the post-enteral availability of certain amino acids, including the branched-chain amino acids, methionine, phenylalanine and threonine, were significantly correlated to FCR. For example, threonine concentrations were negatively correlated to FCR (r = −0.773; P = 0.005). Finally, tandem inclusions of sodium metabisulphite and protease in sorghum-based diets may hold merit but it appears that the established ‘energy sparing’ effects of sodium metabisulphite inclusions in sorghum-based diets are not duplicated in wheat-based diets.