Effects of [Alpha]-Galactosidase Supplementation on Performance and Energy Metabolism for Broilers Fed Corn-Non-Dehulled Soybean Meal Diets (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION Soybean meal (SBM) is used extensively as a protein source in animal feed in view of particular merits, such as the desirable amino acid content, relative availability, high consistency, and low cost. However, SBM contains a lot of oligosaccharides (Bach Knudsen and Li, 1991; Parsons et al., 2000; Grieshop et al., 2003; Jankowski et al., 2009), which is essentially non-digestible and can not be eliminated easily by processing (Saunders and Wiggins, 1981; Leske et al., 1991). Most mammals do not express pancreatic [alpha]-galactosidase, and the raffinose series (raffinose, stachyose and verbascose) are just digested by microbial enzymes in the lower gut, release gases associated with flatulence in non-ruminant animals and man (Fleming, 1981; Nowak and Steinkraues, 1988; Zhang et al., 2001). The poor digestibility of the raffinose can also lead to potential energy loss. SBM and dehulled SBM contain 5 to 6% more gross energy than corn but 42 to 54% less metabolizable energy, respectively (Hill et al., 1960; Sibbald and Slinger, 1962).