Trends in feed evaluation for poultry with emphasis on in vitro techniques.

Accurate knowledge of the actual nutritional value of individual feed ingredients and complete diets is critical for efficient and sustainable animal production. For this reason, feed evaluation has always been in the forefront of nutritional research. Feed evaluation for poultry involves several approaches that include chemical analysis, table values, prediction equations, near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy, in vivo data and in vitro digestion techniques.

In vitro and in vivo degradation of myo-inositol hexakisphosphate by a phytase from Citrobacter braakii.

Phytases (EC 3.1.3) are widely used in animal feed to increase the availability of phosphorus and decrease the anti nutritive effect of myo-inositol hexakisphosphate (InsP₆).

Peniophora lycii phytase is stabile and degrades phytate and solubilises minerals in vitro during simulation of gastrointestinal digestion in the pig.

Background: Microbial phytases (EC 3.1.3) are widely used in diets for monogastric animals to hydrolyse phytate present in the feed and thereby increase phosphorus and mineral availability.

Leucine-derived cyano glucosides in barley.

Barley (Hordeum vulgare) seedlings contain five cyano glucosides derived from the amino acid L-leucine (Leu). The chemical structure and the relative abundance of the cyano glucosides were investigated by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance analyses using spring barley cultivars with high, medium, and low cyanide potential. The barley cultivars showed a 10-fold difference in their cyano glucoside content, but the relative content of the individual cyano glucosides remained constant.