Author : Teves, Franco G.

Summary : Streptomyces No.17 was found to produce mannanase activities ranging from 7.3 to 24.6 units. Paper chromatography of hydrolysates from copra meal yielded mannose and traces of mannooligosaccharides. Enzyme-treated copra meal showed a marked reduction in crude fiber (6.32 percent) as compared with the untreated copra meal (12.68 percent) . Likewise, a significant reduction in crude fiber of diets with mannanase-treated copra meal (5.37 percent) as compared to diets with untreated copra meal (5.87 percent) was noted. No toxic substance was detected in untreated and mannanase-treated copra meal as determined by the in vivo tests in chicken embryos. Significant improvements were noted in the apparent digestible dry matter (68.31-80.98 percent), crude protein (49.68-61.16 percent), crude fat (83.27-91.47 percent), crude fiber (25.15-61.88 percent), and nitrogen-free extract (NFE) (82.96-93.19 percent) of diets with mannanase-treated copra meal as compared to those with untreated copra meal. The apparent metabolizable energy (AME) of diets with mannanase-treated copra meal also increased significantly (3078.00 Kcal/Kg) as compared to diets with untreated copra meal (2595.67 Kcal/Kg). Weight gain (433.84 g-558.49 g) and efficiency of feed intake (2.78-2.13) of broilers were significantly improved when fed with diets containing mannanase-treated copra meal than when fed with diets containing untreated copra meal. Increasing the level of untreated and mannanase-treated copra in the diets had no significant effect on the feed efficiency of broilers at 15 percent level of probability. There was no significant difference in feed consumption of broilers fed with diets containing untreated and mannanase-treated copra meal. These results showed that mannanase treatment improved the nutritional quality of copra meal in broiler diets.