NSPASES: CAN THOSE EXOGENOUS ENZYMES REALLY CONSTITUTE NATURAL GROWTH COFACTORS IN BROILER CHICKENS?

In the quest to improve public and animal health, white meat is considered to be one of the major causes of antibioresistance identified in medicine, through uncontrolled use of antibiotics in poultry farming as growth promoters (GPA). Thus, this use needs to be reconsidered at large scale. This reconsideration involves the substitution of GPAs by natural alternatives, particularly enzymes degrading non-starch polysaccharides (NSPases) which will allow:1) modulation of the intestinal microbiota, to attenuate the anti-nutritional effects of insoluble NSPs, 2)reduction of the non-digested portion of the substrate and 3) improvement of the zootechnical performance of the chicken. Non-starch polysaccharides contain two main families, namely: water-insoluble NSPs including cellulose and partially water-soluble NSPs. However, despite the fact that these components constitute the major part of cereal dietary fiber, they have an anti-nutritional effect associated with the viscous nature of these polysaccharides and their interaction with the intestinal microflora due to the fact that poultry does not produce enough endogenous enzymes to hydrolyze NSPs. The use of NSPases produced mainly by fungi and bacteria allows counterbalancing the anti-nutritional properties of dietary fibers by increasing the digestibility of starch and improving the zootechnical performance of broilers, particularly the conversion index.Thus, this literature review aims to shed light on the effects of NSPases on the zootechnical parameters of chickens, the intestinal microflora as well as on nutritional digestibility in order to use them as alternatives to GPAs and limit the aggravation of the phenomenon of antibioresistance. This approach is therefore, part of the world famous concept of one world one health and which applies to the design and implementation of programs, policies, legislations and research for which several sectors communicate and collaborate to improve public health outcomes.