Effects of enzymolytic soybean meal on growth performance, intestinal morphology, cecal microbiota, and short‑chain fatty acids in broilers.
5 affiliations
- 1College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, 071000, China.
- 2College of Food Science and Technology, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, 071000, China.
- 3College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, 071000, China; Agricultural Technology Innovation Centre in Mountainous Areas of Hebei Province, Baoding, 071000, China.
- 4Hebei Provincial Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Baoding, 071000, China.
- 5College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, 071000, China; Agricultural Technology Innovation Centre in Mountainous Areas of Hebei Province, Baoding, 071000, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract
A 42‑d experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of replacing dietary soybean meal with enzymolytic soybean meal (ESBM) on growth performance, intestinal morphology, cecal microbiota, and short‑chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in broilers. A total of 400 one‑day‑old male Cobb broilers were randomly assigned to 5 groups, each with 8 replicates of 10 birds. The control group received a corn‑soybean meal basal diet, and the four experimental groups (T1, T2, T3, T4) were fed diets in which 1 %, 2 %, 3 %, or 4 % ESBM replaced an equal amount of soybean meal, respectively. The results showed that, compared with the control group, broilers in the T3 group had a higher average daily gain (ADG) and a lower feed conversion ratio (FCR) during d 22 to 42 (P < 0.05). The T3 group also exhibited increased duodenal villus height and villus‑height‑to‑crypt‑depth ratio (P < 0.05), and a marked elevation in the relative abundance of cecal Alistipes (P < 0.05). In the T4 group, the cecal propionate concentration was significantly higher than that of the control (P < 0.05). Spearman correlation analysis revealed a positive association between the relative abundance of Alistipes and propionate concentration (P < 0.05). Collectively, these findings demonstrate that moderate inclusion of ESBM (3 %) improves late‑phase growth performance, enhances duodenal morphology, and beneficially modulates cecal microbiota and propionate production in broilers.
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BibTeX
@article{fan2026effects,
title = {{Effects of enzymolytic soybean meal on growth performance, intestinal morphology, cecal microbiota, and short‑chain fatty acids in broilers.}},
author = {Dongfeng Fan and Fengyang Wu and Baojiang Chen and Yajuan Liu and Shuaijuan Han and Fengxia Wang and Zhonghua Wei and Saijuan Chen},
journal = {Poultry science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.psj.2026.107954},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42893652},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Effects of enzymolytic soybean meal on growth performance, intestinal morphology, cecal microbiota, and short‑chain fatty acids in broilers.
AU - Dongfeng Fan
AU - Fengyang Wu
AU - Baojiang Chen
AU - Yajuan Liu
AU - Shuaijuan Han
AU - Fengxia Wang
AU - Zhonghua Wei
AU - Saijuan Chen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/10
JO - Poultry science
DO - 10.1016/j.psj.2026.107954
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42893652
AB - A 42‑d experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of replacing dietary soybean meal with enzymolytic soybean meal (ESBM) on growth performance, intestinal morphology, cecal microbiota, and short‑chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in broilers. A total of 400 one‑day‑old male Cobb broilers were randomly assigned to 5 groups, each with 8 replicates of 10 birds. The control group received a corn‑soybean meal basal diet, and the four experimental groups (T1, T2, T3, T4) were fed diets in which 1 %, 2 %, 3 %, or 4 % ESBM replaced an equal amount of soybean meal, respectively. The results showed that, compared with the control group, broilers in the T3 group had a higher average daily gain (ADG) and a lower feed conversion ratio (FCR) during d 22 to 42 (P < 0.05). The T3 group also exhibited increased duodenal villus height and villus‑height‑to‑crypt‑depth ratio (P < 0.05), and a marked elevation in the relative abundance of cecal Alistipes (P < 0.05). In the T4 group, the cecal propionate concentration was significantly higher than that of the control (P < 0.05). Spearman correlation analysis revealed a positive association between the relative abundance of Alistipes and propionate concentration (P < 0.05). Collectively, these findings demonstrate that moderate inclusion of ESBM (3 %) improves late‑phase growth performance, enhances duodenal morphology, and beneficially modulates cecal microbiota and propionate production in broilers.
SN - 0032-5791
SN - 1525-3171
ER -