Most phosphorus (P) in vegetable feedstuffs is phytate-bound . Phytatebound
P is poorly hydrolysed because broilers have low capacity to hydrolyse phytate
(Bedford, 2000). Phytate can also bind other nutrients and digestive enzymes in the gut,
thereby reducing nutrient digestibility and availability to the body Wheat, which is one of the major feed ingredients used in formulating broiler diets
in Canada, also contains anti-nutritional components, such as non-starch polysaccharides
(NSP) in its cell wall, which are indigestible by non-ruminants and can reduce utilisation
of nutrients entrapped within the cells (Annison, 1991). The major component of NSP in
wheat, soluble arabinoxylans (Annison, 1991) increases digesta viscosity, which in turn
decreases nutrient digestion by reducing digesta passage rate, accessibility of enzymes to
their substrates and absorption of nutrients