Enzymes and Gut Health in Monogastric Animals: Effects Beyond Digestibility

Enzymes have an important role in animal nutrition due to their effects on increasing diet digestibility and animal performance. However, the impact of enzymes is more complex than only increasing digestion and absorption. In the last two decades, it has been shown that diet-supplemented enzymes influence host intestinal microbiota, physiology, immunity, and integrity. Diets supplemented with enzymes are an option to modulate animal’s intestinal physiology since their enzymatic products can act as prebiotics, shift the site of digestion and absorption, reduce pathogenic bacteria, diminish the inflammatory response, and improve the quality of the epithelium. However, the outcome of the use of enzymes depends on the diet composition, environmental conditions, age and health status of the animal. Therefore, the current chapter aims to summarize the influence of enzymes on intestinal health and to provide current insights into the mechanisms behind its effects and the influential factors that are produced. Furthermore, we compare enzyme effects on the intestinal physiology in conjunction with performance parameters to support good decision-making process of adding enzymes to the monogastric diet.