A bioassay to determine the effect of phytase on phytate phosphorus hydrolysis and total phosphorus retention of feed ingredients as determined with broilers and laying hens

In order to accurately formulate diets for broilers and laying hens to meet phosphorus requirements without overfeeding, precise knowledge of an individual feed ingredient's contribution to the retainable phosphorus is needed. Seven feed ingredients, included as the sole source of phosphorus, were tested with and without the addition of 600 phytase units (FTU) phytase/kg diet, in a 5-d bioassay with 10 22-d-old male broilers. Without addition of phytase, the amounts of phytate phosphorus hydrolyzed in corn, soybean meal, wheat, wheat midds, barley, defatted rice bran, and canola were 30.8, 34.9, 30.7, 29.1, 32.2, 33.2, and 36.7%, respectively. The addition of phytase increased (P less than or equal to 0.05) each value to 59.0, 72.4, 46.8, 52.2, 71.3, 48.0, and 55.8%, respectively. The addition of phytase increased total phosphorus retention from 34.8, 27.0, 16.0, 31.9, 40.3, 15.5, and 39.4% to 40.9, 58.0, 33.8, 43.4, 55.5, 26.5, and 45.7%, respectively. A similar bioassay was conducted with laying hens fed corn, soybean meal, and defatted rice bran. Without phytase addition, phytate phosphorus hydrolyzed in soybean meal, corn, and rice bran was determined to be 25.7, 23.0, and 36.1%, respectively, and was increased (P less than or equal to 0.05) to 62.4, 52.0, and 50.9%, respectively, with the addition of 300 FTU phytase/kg feed. Total phosphorus retention of soybean meal, corn, and rice bran increased from 36.8, 28.6, and 35.9% to 53.4, 44.7, and 43.0%, respectively, with the addition of phytase.