Effect of Phytate Enzyme Supplementation in Cooked Baobab Seed Meal Diets on Broiler Chickens’ Health and Nutrient Digestion

Introduction: Phytate poses a significant challenge in poultry nutrition due to its anti-nutritional properties. Phytate is one of the antinutritional factors that is considered harmful to broilers. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of incorporating phytase enzymes on the health of chickens and their ability to digest nutrients from the baobab seed meal. Materials and methods: A total of 240 broiler chickens of mixed sexes, averaging 980 grams in weight, were allocated to the four dietary treatment groups, each replicated four times, with 15 birds per replicate. Enzyme supplementation was administered at 0 and 200 ppm levels, while cooked baobab seed meal (CBSM) inclusion levels were set at 0 and 20%, respectively. Treatment 1 (T1) served as the negative control, containing zero enzyme and CBSM. Treatment 2 (T2) acted as the positive control, comprising 200 ppm of enzyme without CBSM. Treatment 3 (T3) contained 20% CBSM without enzyme supplementation, and Treatment 4 (T4) comprised 20% CBSM supplemented with 200 ppm of enzymes.   Results: The results indicated that incorporating cooked CBSM into broiler diets at a 20% inclusion level led to an increase in crude protein content from 19.08% to 19.19% in finisher diets. Notably, supplementation with 200 ppm of phytase significantly enhanced total albumin levels (from 21.30 to 25.56 g/dl). Moreover, the interaction between phytase and CBSM resulted in elevated levels of total cholesterol (4.35 mmol/l), total albumin (26.62 g/dl), and Uric acid (295.95 µmol/l). However, the addition of CBSM led to decreased crude fiber digestibility (from 58.82% to 53.42%) and nitrogen-free extract (from 69.74% to 65.64%). The interaction between phytase and CBSM further diminished dry matter, ether extract, crude fiber, and nitrogen-free extract, particularly evident in the treatment group receiving 20% CBSM with 0 ppm of phytase. However, when the diet supplemented with 200 ppm of phytase, the interaction maintained statistically similar results throughout compared to T1 (0% CBSM + 0 ppm). Regarding microbial count, T4 exhibited lower levels of Escherichia coli and no detectable Shigella species.  Conclusion: Twenty percent CBSM plus phytase enzyme supplementation resulted in the improvement of total cholesterol, total albumin, and Uric acid.