Fiber-degrading enzyme increases body weight and total serum cholesterol in broiler chickens fed a rye-based diet

Broiler chickens were fed diets based on either outer or inner endosperm from rye. These diets were fed with or without a fiber degrading enzyme to study the effects of the dietary fiber fraction on production results, body composition, serum lipid concentrations and apparent ileal digestibility of nutrients. Elimination of the dietary fiber effect by the enzyme generally improved the production results and caused an increase in total serum cholesterol concentrations. On average, at d 21 of the experiment chickens fed the enzyme supplemented outer endosperm diet had body weights and serum total cholesterol concentrations -23% and 37% higher, respectively, than those of birds fed the corresponding unsupplemented diet. The body fat content tended to be higher and the protein content was generally lower in chickens fed enzyme-supplemented diets. Chickens fed the unsupplemented outer endosperm diet had a low apparent ileal crude fat digestibility of only 23%, and birds fed the enzyme-supplemented diet had crude fat digestibility that was 113% higher but still lower than that of birds fed the inner endosperm diet. Birds fed enzyme-supplemented diets generally had higher apparent ileal digestibilities of organic matter, crude protein, starch, crude fat and dietary fiber components.