F

We can expect
more from new
generation NSP
enzymes

by Caroline Marandon, Enzyme

Product Manager EAME, Adisseo

hanks to an extensive research

program achieved by its experts in
bioengineering and monogastric
nutrition, Adisseo found a solution
to get more from NSP enzymes.
With Rovabio Advance, the first
Feedase, the total digestibility of feed
vegetable fraction is improved by 3
percent whatever the type of diet. This
article is the opportunity to come back to the mode of action of
NSP enzymes and explain why we can expect more nutrients,
especially from corn, thanks to innovation.
When NSP enzymes were introduced to poultry feed about
20 years ago, the main objective was to reduce digesta
viscosity induced by winter cereals. By degrading non-starch
polysaccharides, NSP enzymes could also save a significant
amount of energy, so the reformulation approach began with

significant feed cost savings. So for the last 15 years, the

link between NSP enzymes and energy cost savings is well
established in the mindset of nutritionists.
Today we know that NSP enzymes could do more, in terms
of digestibility enhancement, beyond the only energy criteria.
Current products, especially multi-enzymes can already increase
the digestibility of amino acids but there are still biological
limiting factor that make nutritionists quite conservative when it
comes to amino acid reformulation with NSP enzymes. And yet,
the challenge of tomorrow is the supply of amino-acids. Now the
new generation of NSP enzymes is available: The newly launched
NSP enzyme from Adisseo, Rovabio Advance, allows to extract
more from the feed again!

Increasing digestibility of feed by removing the cage

effect of NSPs

We always talk about NSPs in grains without knowing exactly

Figure 1: The by-products of NSP degradation then may have some positive effect on the lower gut,
but on the first stage, the priority is to open the cells and get the maximum of what is inside

42 | June 2016 - Milling and Grain

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where they are, yet, this information
may change the way we look at
NSP enzymes. A single grain is a
composition of millions of vegetable
cells aggregated together. Inside
each cell are all valuable nutrients
that the animal needs: starch, lipids,
proteins. Monogastric animals are well
equipped to digest those nutrients as
they naturally produce endogeneous
enzymes like amylase, lipase, and
protease.
Figure 2: Schematic biochemical structure of AX
The problem is that those valuable
nutrients are protected by the cell wall.
This wall represents a physical barrier
which prevents endogenous enzymes to act. This barrier is made
the xylose residues (Figure 2).
of NSPs. This is those NSPs that we target when using exogenous
The residues can even be composed of ferulic acid or other
NSP enzymes, which monogastric animals do not produce. The
chains, like (feruloylated) arabinofuranose, xylose, galactose
by-products of NSP degradation then may have some positive
and -glucuronic acid. The ratio of arabinose to xylose and the
effect on the lower gut, but on the first stage, the priority is to
content of no-, mono- and di-substituted xylose are variables
open the cells and get the maximum of what is inside (figure 1).
from the variety and the tissue of the kernel. Corn contains more
substituted heteroxylans (80%) than wheat (70%) and has an
even higher rate of glucuronic acid (8.3% vs. 2.6% dry matter).
The complex world of NSPs
Rice has the most substituted soluble AX with a ratio reaching
The most common cereals used to feed poultry and swine are
0.98. It has an impact on the efficacy of exogenous enzymes, and,
corn and wheat grains. NSP are () polymers located mainly
yet, cutting the bonds will improve digestibility even though a
in the cell walls of the endosperm but also in the bran. Bran is
high level of substitution limits any viscous issue. The higher
primarily made of cellulose and complex xylans, both of which
is the level of substitution of arabinoxylans the less efficient is
include a large amount of lignin. Regarding the endosperm of the
the action of xylanases, leading to bad performances of xylanase
kernel, arabinoxylans (AX) and -glucans stand for the major
product over corn based diets. In other words, the arabinoxylans
part of cell walls. Arabinoxylans have a -(1,4)-linked xylose
in corn are so hairy that the xylanases cannot get through.
backbone with residues at the C(O)2 and/or C(O)3 positions of

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19.05.2016
Milling and Grain - June 2016
| 4309:22:50

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Based on this fact, many nutritionist may have
decided to not use any NSP enzyme on corn diets.

Figure 3: Performances tests confirming the potential of Rovabio Advance to

save 3 perecnt AME and 3 percent dAA

Arabinofuranosidases: the key to unlock

highly subtituted NSPs

Because of their complex structure, AX require

several enzymes to be degraded. The main chain is
hydrolyzed by endo-xylanases, for sure. However,
as explained above, the substitutions hinder their
activity. Moreover, most of the endo-1,4--xylanases
require a long chain of unsubstituted xyloses on
the backbone in order to be effective. Endo-1,4-xylanases have various molecular sizes and different
specificities to xylan-like substrates, which makes
the process even more complex that only one
xylanase cannot cover.
Talaromyces versatilis is a fungus that produces
various endoxylanases with different molecular
sizes and different optimum pH and selectivity or
affinity to insoluble or soluble substrates. -LArabinofuranosidases (Abf) are also produced by
this fungus. They can separate arabinose residues
from the main chain and provide new possible sites
for xylanase to act. As they belong to different
families, they can hydrolyze residues from
mono- or di-substituted xyloses in both oligo and
polysaccharides.
The main asset of ABF is also more efficient at a
lower pH than the optimum level of endoxylanases.
In this way, they act in the upper level of the
digestive tract (stomach), and the backbone
can be degraded in the rest of the digestive
tract by endoxylanases. In simple words, the
arabinofuranosidases do the cleaning-up and provide
free space for the xylanases to act later on.

Unprecedented efficacy on corn and wheat

Adisseo experts knew from long time experience

that a large diversity of NSP enzymes was required to degrade
a high and variable diversity of NSPs. While keeping that
in mind, we had to find the key to unlock NSPs of corn: the
arabinofuranosidases. For wheat diets, the main benefit is on
homogeneity of performances; indeed the diversity of enzymatic
acitivities is again wider, therefore the risk to be blocked by
xylanase inhibitors is reduced.
It is now possible to achieve the same performance of enzymes
on wheat and corn diets. Rovabio Advance releases more
nutrient for absorption and thus more energy and amino acids for
animal growth. This innovation is perceived as a revolution as,
so far, no enzyme solution was offered to have an equal return on
investment from enzymes when switching from wheat to corn or
when including some corn in a wheat diet.
Robust testing across a variety of diets shows that Rovabio
Advance, provides a 3 percent improvement of feed digestibility,
leading to an increase of 3 percent of apparent metabolisable
energy (AME) and 3 percent of digestible amino acids. Trials
confirm a consistent improvement of AME in wheat-based diets
as in corn-based diets (+ 90 Kcal/kg), representing more than 3
percent of AME in feed, whatever the energy level of the control
diet.
Furthermore, Rovabio Advance improves the digestibility
of amino acid as proved by trials measuring the performance
and carcass parameters of birds in Cern, the Adisseo Center of
Expertise and Research in Nutrition (France). Trials based on
44 | June 2016 - Milling and Grain

reformulated diets for broilers with a reduction nutrient level

compared to control diets confirm that digestible amino acid
(dAA) and crude protein content can be reduced by 3 percent
to 4 percent ensuring the same performances (FCR and BWG)
compared with a positive control diet.(Fig 3).
Other trials also demonstrate the efficacy of Rovabio Advance
in improving the digestibility of other nutrients of interest as
P and Ca by 3 percent. That is why Adisseo experts present
Rovabio Advance as a Feedase , improving the availability of
all nutrients of the feed.

Unique benefits of Rovabio Advance

Rovabio Advance is now authorized in EU for broilers and

turkeys and is available in different forms (powder at 50 g/t or
500 g/t of feed or liquid at 100 to 200 ml/t) to fit various feed
mills application constrains. Rovabio Advance is a major
innovation from Adisseo R&D teams, leading to a reduction of
costs and reduction of nutrient losses said Franck Chmitelin,
Adisseo Vice-President Global sales and Marketing Director.
With a potential to replace 3 percent of the AME, 3 percent
of digestible amino acids and 3 percent of crude protein in
feed, Adisseo offers the possibility to decrease the feed cost
by EU12 per ton of feed treated with Rovabio Advance.
In a feedmill producing 100,000 t of broiler or turkey feed
per year, Rovabio Advance generates an extra margin of at
least EU30,000 per year compared to other available NSP
enzymes on the market.