Poultry sector is one of the most vibrant segments of the agriculture industry of Pakistan. It is the country’s second-largest industry next to textiles and is committed to provide high quality meat at economic rate. Poultry meat contributes approximately 25.8% of the total meat production in the country and still there is need for more white meat due to rising population levels in the country.
The feed formulation is the key factor for high rate of poultry. Commonly, the plant based feeds are available in the market and are being used for the growth of poultry birds. Plant based feed has a compound “Phytate” that might be named as anti-nutritional factor which chelates the essential metal ions and minerals from the animal body. Phytate is the principle storage form of phosphorus in cereals, legumes and seeds. Mono-gastric animals like poultry bird doesn’t have ability to utilise phytate as phosphorus source due to unavailability of phytases responsible for the release of free phosphorus by the hydrolysis of phytate. To overcome phosphorus deficiency, the feed is being supplemented with inorganic phosphorus for sustained growth of mono-gastric animals. This increases the production cost due to high prices of inorganic phosphorus in the market. The undigested phytate is being excreted in the form of faeces and cause environmental problems in the livestock intensive areas. Many European countries have passed legislation to reduce the amount of inorganic phosphorus in animal feed.
Inclusion of phytase in animal feed effectively improves the animal phytate utilisation and results in improvement of weight gain and feed consumption. Phytases are unique enzymes which hydrolyze non-digestible phytate to useable inorganic phosphorus. Phytases have been characterised from plants, bacteria and fungi but still this enzyme is not being produced at domestic level. Pakistan is paying huge foreign exchange for the import of tons of this enzyme per annum basis. That’s why there is an ongoing surge to characterise phytase which can meet the ever increasing demand of industry.
Recently, scientists at the University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Lahore have produced and characterised a recombinant thermostable phytase and its efficacy has been examined in the poultry birds. The supplementation of feed with locally produced phytase revealed significant effect on the growth & weight gain of birds and in the improvement of feed conversion ratio. This study was an initial step for the fulfilment of industrial demand of enzymes at domestic level and to save foreign exchange for the import of this enzyme however further upscale processing will be required for the availability of the enzyme at commercial level.
Mr. Furqan Sabir and Dr. Muhammad Tayyab
IBBT, UVAS,
Lahore
