Press release

Parsippany NJ, US, 13 May 2013 13:00 CEST

DSM will host a symposium on possible substrates for exogenous enzymes during the 2013 meeting of the Poultry Science Association (PSA) to be held in San Diego, CA, USA from 22 to 25 July. Entitled ‘Possible Substrates for Exogenous Enzymes’ the event will be one of a number of symposia and workshops to be staged at PSA 2013 on 22 July at 1 pm. The use of exogenous enzymes has increased considerably in the past 20 years to support animal performance and feed cost savings while delivering improved animal health and enhanced sustainability. However, questions still remain concerning how much enzymes can potentially release from different substrates and also the results of this effect.

Before being able to characterize the effect of enzymes it is essential to understand the full range of possible substrates available in livestock feed. It is also critical to understand how the substrates themselves can be changed according to the quality and composition of the feed and the requirements of the specific livestock group. Such changes do not affect the quantity of substrate available in the feed, but they do affect the digestibility of certain nutrients. This increases the space in which enzymes can act, which in turn heightens the effectiveness of their action. This aspect of the use of enzymes in animal feed has received inadequate attention in the past. The DSM symposium aims to readdress this balance.

Chaired by DSM’s Dr. José Otávio B. Sorbara and moderated by Dr. Roselina Angel, Assistant Professor at the Department of Animal and Avian Sciences at the University of Maryland, the symposium includes contributions on ‘Fiber and NSP Content and Variation’ (Professor K. E. Bach-Knudsen, Aarhus University, Denmark); ‘Phytate Concentration and Variation in Different Crops’ (Professor George Pesti, University of Georgia, USA); ‘Starch: Is it a possible substrate?’ (Professor Birger Svihus, Agricultural University of Norway); ‘Protein and Amino Acids: What is Undigestible?’ (Professor Paul Moughan, Massey University, New Zealand); and ‘Formulating Poultry Diets Based on their Undigestible Fractions’ (Professor Sergio L. Vieira, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil).

Dr. Steve Koenig, Executive Director of the Poultry Science Association, says: "PSA is excited about collaborating with DSM to present the very best scientific information in a symposium that will draw much needed attention to the impact of feedstuff variability on the efficiency and predictability of exogenous enzymes."

Dr. Mark Stock, President DSM Animal Nutrition and Health, comments: “DSM is excited to be hosting this important symposium, at which a distinguished line-up of leading experts in the field of feedstuff evaluation will be presenting the results of their most recent research. Their contributions, and the associated discussions, will provide up-to-the-minute insights into the value-adding application of enzymes in today’s highly competitive global poultry industry.”