Effects of β-glucanase and xylanase supplementation on gastrointestinal digestive enzyme activities of weaned piglets fed a barley-based diet

The effects of supplementing a barley-based diet for weaned piglets with exogenous β-glucanase and xylanase on gastrointestinal digestive enzyme activities were investigated. Thirty-six cross-bred weaned piglets were randomly assigned to two groups with three pens based on sex and mass. Each group was fed on the diet based on barley with or without added β-glucanase and xylanase (0.15%) for a 4-week period. The results showed that enzyme supplementation improved growth performance of piglets significantly (p < 0.05), but had no effect (p = 0.091) on average daily feed intake. The results also showed that supplementation of β-glucanase and xylanase had no effect on pepsin activity in gastric contents but slightly decreased (p = 0.092) the pepsin activity in gastric mucosa. Meanwhile, no effect of enzyme supplementation on trypsin activity in duodenal contents was observed. However, the activities of amylase and lipase in duodenal contents were significantly (p < 0.05) decreased, whereas the activities of maltase, sucrase and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GT) in jejunal and ileal mucosa were enhanced significantly (p < 0.05). The improvement of disaccharidase and γ-GT activity may be attributed to the positive impacts of exogenous enzymes on digestion and absorption of the nutrients. In conclusion, the current results indicated that supplementation with enzymes in barley-based diets could improve the growth performance of piglets, decrease the activities of amylase and lipase in duodenal contents and increase the activities of disaccharidase and γ-GT in jejunal and ileal mucosa.