Removal of the alpha-galactosides of sucrose from soybean meal using either ethanol extraction or exogenous alpha-galactosidase and broiler performance.

Two studies using broiler chicks and one using adult White Leghorn roosters were conducted to determine the influence of stachyose and raffinose (alpha-galactosides of sucrose) present in soybean meal (SBM) on the nutritional value of the meal. In Experiment 1, the addition of four levels (0, .05, .10, or .20 g/kg) of alpha-galactosidase with and without 1 g/kg of invertase to a corn-SBM diet had no effect on weight gain, feed efficiency, protein digestibility, or the digestible energy value of the feed when fed to broiler chicks. However, both enzymes decreased (P < .001) dietary AMEn. In Experiment 2, ethanol extraction and incubation of SBM with alpha-galactosidase decreased the concentrations of the alpha-galactosides of sucrose in SBM from 6.59 to .81 and 1.43%, respectively. However, when broiler chicks were fed semi-purified diets containing SBM, ethanol-extracted SBM, water-incubated SBM, or water plus alpha-galactosidase-incubated SBM, no improvements in weight gain, feed efficiency, or apparent protein digestibility were observed. There was also no improvement in TMEn when the above meals were precision fed to adult White Leghorn roosters (Experiment 3). These results indicate that the removal of up to approximately 90% of the alpha-galactosides of sucrose has no beneficial effect on the nutritional value of SBM for chickens.