Porcine
in vitro
degradation characteristics of heat pretreated and multi‐enzyme predigested maize whole stillage
Kevin S Jerez‐Bogota, Knud E Bach Knudsen, William Gibbons, Tofuko A Woyengo Abstract
BACKGROUND
This study investigated effects of predigesting untreated and heat‐pretreated (at 70 psi and 160 °C for 20 min) maize whole stillage (WS) with multi‐enzyme products on porcine in vitro digestibility and fermentation characteristics. Untreated WS and heat‐pretreated WS were undigested or predigested (at 55 °C for 12 h) with three multi‐enzyme products (MTE1, MTE2 and MTE3) in a 2 × 4 arrangement. The MTE1 supplied xylanase, cellulase, β ‐glucanase and protease; MTE2 supplied xylanase, α ‐galactosidase and cellulase; and MTE3 supplied xylanase, β ‐glucanase and mannanase.
RESULTS
The in vitro digestibility (IVD) of dry matter (IVD‐DM) and IVD of non‐starch polysaccharides (IVD‐NSP) for untreated WS were 0.734 and 0.350, respectively. Fermentation gas production for untreated WS was 192 mL g –1 DM. Heat‐pretreatment increased ( P < 0.05) IVD‐DM, IVD‐NSP and fermentation gas production for WS by 8.13%, 13.8% and 9.69%, respectively. Multi‐enzyme predigestion improved ( P < 0.05) IVD‐DM, IVD‐NSP and fermentation gas production for WS by 10.3%, 51.5% and 7.34%, respectively. The IVD‐DM and fermentation gas production for untreated WS was unaffected by multi‐enzyme type; however, these two response criteria for the heat‐pretreated WS were greater ( P < 0.05) for MTE2 than for MTE1 or MTE3.
CONCLUSION
The digestibility and fermentation of WS were improved by heat‐pretreatment and multi‐enzyme predigestion. The combination of heat‐pretreatment and MTE2 predigestion was the most effective in improving digestibility and fermentation of WS. © 2026 The Author(s). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.