Dr. John Kaijage,
Your point of view on tannins content of sorghum is important to consider. In a study titled 'Cibenza DP 100 improves performance and energy utilization in chickens fed high tannin sorghum', it was concluded that the negative effects of using high tannins sorghum (Tannin value of 1.63%; catechin equivalent and a kafirin index of 5.20) in diets were decreased with the addition of serine protease enzyme.
Reference: Carvajal-Jiménez, J. G., Rincón, K., & Oviedo-Rondon, E. O. (2012). Poster #P340 Protease improves performance and energy utilization in broilers fed diets with high tannin sorghum. Poultry Science Vol. 91 (E-suppl. 1) 2012 Poultry Science Association Annual Meeting Abstracts (Vol. 82).
Dr. Ajay Bhoyar Yes it is, serine protease helps against tannin. My laboratory (Kronos Agro LLC) always detect tannin level before sorghum will be added to the feed. To minimize risk, we recommend using sorghum with low tannin content. From another side, tannin is helpful for the gut, reducing unpleasant bacteria.
Excellent work. In Colombia, during the first semester of the year, the Nutrianalisis laboratory, analyzing the samples of sorghum sent by the clients, found that a high percentage of them (75%) correspond to the category high in tannins, content of condensed tannins of 3% (catechin equivalent). The application of enzymes, a solution to take better advantage of this resource that is often rejected.
it is a good study, but did you compare the cost of sorghum with corn and final price of ratio with content of corn or sorghum?
It is a good study but anticipated effects and interactions sorghum inclusion and tannin levels in diets were not considered. Serine protease act and improve digestibility of kafirin in sorghum-based diets. However, there is a positive correlation between kafirin and tannin content in grain sorghum. Therefore, it was quite important to consider not only levels of sorghum but also tannin levels. The effect serine protease will depend very much on the level of tannin content in the diet.
Dr Albaraa, with the results presented, some points that I believe are part of the objectives of this study were not properly clarified; - there is no information on the effect of protease on diets containing sorghum. It should be considered that the use of the enzyme was in the sense of enable the inclusion of sorghum in diets to replace corn; - when reporting that up to 50% of sorghum can be included, it does not describe whether it is with the inclusion of the enzyme or not; - how the inclusion of the enzyme had a positive effect on the feed containing 100% maize, it was not specified whether using this treatment as a reference the use of up to 50% sorghum remains viable.; - another detail to be considered is that the conclusions of the study must be consistent with the title and objectives of wo