A systematic-review on the role of exogenous enzymes on the productive performance at weaning, growing and finishing in pigs

Supplementing exogenous enzymes in pig diets is an alternative solution to increase dietary energy and fiber digestibility to improve pig production performance at a low production cost and to reduce environmental impact with lower N and P excretions. The production stage, diet composition, enzyme source, amount and number of enzymes added, are factors to consider before using them. A database composed by 227 individual diets, resulting from 43 studies with 48 experimental records were divided in different production stages, with 19 records for weaning, 17 records for growing and 12 records for finishing. A descriptive statistical analysis of the chemical composition of the diets and enzyme doses was carried out. The data with normal distribution were analyzed calculating the mean, the minimum and maximum length, the standard deviation and the coefficient of variation. It was found that combined enzymes are the most widely reported enzyme combination in the supplementation of pigs at all stages of production. Phytases and Mannanases are commonly used at weaning and growing stages. Xylanases and Proteases have been reported to be used in all production stages. However, the highest yielding enzymes at weaning, growing and finishing stages were Phytases and Mannanases. Dietary supplementation of exogenous enzymes improves production characteristics at all stages of production. However, an improvement in growth performance and nutrient digestibility is not always observed. Future studies should focus on the interaction between production stages, composition of the diet, origin of the enzyme and the amount and number of enzymes added.