Fibre degrading enzymes

Fiber is indigestible plant matter from cell wall components consisting of non‐starch polysaccharides (NSPs) and lignin.

NSPs are complex carbohydrates, other than starch, found in plant cell walls that are not degraded by endogenous enzymes during digestion. NSPs include cellulose, hemicellulose (e.g. arabinoxylans, xylans, mannans etc), pectins and beta-glucans.

All NSPs are polymers, larger or smaller, linear or branched, comprised of one or more types of monomers. Celluloses are large, linear polymers of glucose. Hemicelluloses are smaller, often branched polymers of several sugars such as arabinose, xylose, mannose, etc. NSPs are closely associated with other polysaccharide or non-carbohydrate material such as protein and lignin affecting their solubility.

Insoluble NSPs, as constituents of the cell wall, ‘fence in’ nutrients in the cell lumen, frequently referred to as the “cage effect”.

Soluble and solubilised NSPs are known to provoke high viscosities in the upper digestive tract and thereby cause impaired nutrient availability.

Arabinoxylans, NSPs found in all major cereal grains, consist of a xylose polymer backbone with frequent branching of arabinose residues.

Figure: Structure of arabinoxylans

Whereas xylanases from fungal origin mainly degrade the soluble NSPs, bacterial xylanases degrade both soluble and insoluble arabinoxylans. Bacterial xylanases present improved proteolytic resistance, a better stability at high temperature and have a neutral pH optimum.

The addition of bacterial xylanases to the diet reduces intestinal viscosity and releases nutrients, thereby providing a cost-effective energy uplift. They improve performance when added to the same formulation. They reduce costs and maintain the same performance when using more fibrous feedstuffs.

Moreover, bacterial xylanases generate prebiotic carbohydrates in situ that boost the growth of lactic acid producing bacteria in the intestines, increase butyric acid production and improve the animals’ health.

Benefits

Nu3guts product(s)

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