A Korean biotechnology company has introduced in Thailand a mannanase-based feed enzyme which it believes could help Asian livestock producers reduce production costs, especially at this time of rising feed prices.

 

Johnny Lee, marketing manager of CTCBio, Inc., told members of the local agribusiness media at the Swissotel in Bangkok recently that CTCBio spent US$50,000 in developing the enzyme, now being marketed under the brand name CTCzyme.

 

The company, he said, decided to develop mannanase ''because nobody did it commercially before.'' Mannanase, according to him, is much more difficult to produce than xylanase, another enzyme used in feeds to improve the utilization of nutrients in the animal's digestive system.

 

He revealed that recent researches conducted at the Seoul National University in South Korea showed CTCzyme improving the growth performance in swine and poultry fed with corn/soy based diets. The enzyme has been proven to increase the digestibility of raw materials in these animals.

 

Lee said mannanase ''works well with Asian raw materials such as copra meal, cassava and rice bran.''Cassava and rice bran are major feed raw materials in Thailand used as alternative to corn, whose prices have soared.

 

At a time of soaring feed prices, making cheaper feed substitutes like cassava, rice bran and copra meal more digestible would help local livestock producers cut down costs, he said.

 

A polysaccharide called mannan is present in a number of feed ingredients such as palm kernel meal, copra meal, soy hulls, soybean meal, etc. A non-starch polysaccharide, mannan is known to cause poor feed digestion and other negative physiological effects on monogastric animals like pigs and poultry. Even a very low concentration of it, according to Lee, can reduce the rate of glucose absorption in the animal's intestine. He added that mannan could also decrease nitrogen retention and fat absorption, resulting in excess moisture in the excreta and ultimately poor performance in animals.

 

CTCzyme, a 100 percent b-mannanase enzyme, neutralizes these negative effects by decomposing mannan. Tests have proven, Lee said, that use of CTCzyme in animals guarantees better utilization of nutrients and improves feed conversion ratio (FCR).

 

On growing and finishing pigs, CTCzyme promoted better performance despite use of cheaper corn alternatives like palm, copra meal and DDGS. On broilers, the enzyme showed improved FCR and decreased fecal output, among other things.

 

Lee said CTCzyme would soon be available in Thailand.