Effects of enzymolytic soybean meal on the growth performance, digestive enzyme activity, some serum indexes, carcase performance and meat quality of Rex rabbits

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of enzymolytic soybean meal (ESBM) on growth performance, digestive enzyme activity, serum biochemical parameters, immunity, carcase performance and meat quality of Rex rabbits. One hundred and twenty healthy weaned Rex rabbits were randomly divided into four groups (30 replicates per group and one rabbit per replicate). The control group was fed the basal diet and the ESBM treated groups (T1, T2 and T3) were fed 0.5%, 1% and 1.5% ESBM instead of the equivalent amount of soybean meal (SBM) in the basal diet, respectively. The study lasted 61 days, including a pre-feeding period of 5 days and a formal trial period of 56 days. Compared with the control group, the feed to weight ratio was significantly decreased in both T2 and T3 groups (p < 0.05). The alpha-amylase and trypsin activities of the caecum and serum albumin content were significantly increased in the T3 group (p < 0.05). The serum lysozyme activity was significantly increased in all treatment groups (p < 0.05). The full eviscerated slaughter ratio and half eviscerated slaughter ratio were significantly increased in the T1 group (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in other indexes (p > 0.05). In conclusion, the replacement of SBM with ESBM (1.5%) in the diet can reduce the feed to weight ratio, increase the activity of some digestive enzymes, improve carcase performance, and enhance immunity of Rex rabbits.