The response of chicks, with prior exposure to low and high phytate diets,when subsequently fed diets supplemented with phytase and phytate

Phytate is present in the seeds of all plants andis often considered anti-nutritive because it canbind multivalent cations, proteins and starch andreduce the availability of these nutrients forpoultry. Phytate may also alter the physiologyof the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and this maybe a temporary or permanent phenomenon.Supplementation of diets with phytase hasproven to be an efficient solution when addres-sing some of these problems and this may betime-dependent (Sebastianet al., 1996; Cowiesonet al., 2006; Pirgozlievet al., 2007). This study wasdesigned to investigate if previous exposure ofyoung chickens to diets, high and low in phytate,and the subsequent provision of diets withphytate and phytase at different concentrationsinfluenced performance caused by the anti-nutritive effects of phytate.