BioResource International, Inc. (BRI), a global biotechnology company specializing in the research, development and manufacture of high-performance enzyme feed additives for animal nutrition, announced today that findings of a research study using its market-leading protease enzyme, Versazyme®, in swine feed will be presented at the American Society of Animal Science Midwest Meeting in Des Moines, IA, March 16-18th, 2015.

The study, “Efficacy of protease on growth, gut health and nutrient digestibility in nursery pigs fed diets with different levels of soybean meal”, was conducted in collaboration with Dr. Inkyung Park, Ph.D. and Dr. Sung Woo Kim, Ph.D. of North Carolina State University. Results of the trial showed that BRI’s Versazyme, a unique, broad spectrum protease feed enzyme, improved both feed efficiency and gut health, and increased growth performance of newly weaned pigs fed diets with different levels of soybean meal (SBM).

These findings add to the growing body of evidence that protease can be an effective feed enzyme to improve swine nutrition. The study demonstrated that Versazyme protease facilitated the use of higher levels of soybean meal by mitigating the detrimental effects of anti-nutritional factors present in SBM, thus improving gain to feed ratios and supporting better gut health. The results from this trial suggest that pork producers can add more protein in their swine diets and improve feed efficiency by using Versazyme, while reducing the risk of poor gut health associated with higher levels of SBM.

“We look forward to our academic partners sharing these findings with a larger audience at the ASAS Midwest Meeting,” said Giles Shih, CEO, BRI. “As we apply our knowledge of protease additives in poultry diets to their use in swine diets, it is interesting to observe the consistency of performance response in swine trials, while at the same time a somewhat different mechanism of action of this enzyme in the swine digestive tract is starting to emerge. We look forward to further research to help the industry optimize the use of enzyme feed additives to improve pork production economically, safely and sustainably.”