Feed: 6-phytase from Komagataella phaffii CGMCC 7.370 (4a64) authorised for pigs, poultry and ornamental birds — 1000 U/kg for laying poultry, 500 U/kg for growing poultry, sows and boars, 750 U/kg for pigs for fattening; activity determined by EN ISO 30024
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/404, published on 25 February 2026, authorises until 17 March 2036 a preparation of 6-phytase (EC 3.1.3.26) produced with Komagataella phaffii CGMCC 7.370 (holder of the authorisation: Victory Enzymes GmbH) as a zootechnical additive in the functional group of digestibility enhancers. It rests on two EFSA opinions: of 23 November 2022 (safety and efficacy in laying hens) and of 26 June 2025 (efficacy in growing poultry and pigs, assessed on new trials).
- Specification: solid form at least 50 000 U/g additive, liquid 5 000 U/g; one unit U is the amount of enzyme that liberates 1 μmol of inorganic phosphate per minute from sodium phytate at 37 °C and pH 5.5. Minimum contents in complete feed with 12 % moisture: poultry for laying or reproduction 1 000 U/kg; poultry for fattening and reared for laying or reproduction, ornamental birds, sows and boars 500 U/kg; pigs for fattening and reared for reproduction 750 U/kg (the piglets row stands in the act’s table without a separate value; EFSA indicated 750 U/kg for weaned piglets). The additive is a skin and respiratory sensitiser.
- Official method: the act gives one method for the additive, premixtures and compound feed — colorimetric determination of phytase activity by reaction with phytate according to EN ISO 30024. In its report for the 2022 opinion, the EU reference laboratory had also recommended VDLUFA 27.1.4 (product) and VDLUFA 27.1.3 (premixtures) for official control, alongside EN ISO 30024 for feed. The directions for use must state storage conditions and stability to heat treatment.
- Characterisation according to EFSA (2022): five batches of the liquid form averaged 5 696 U/g (5 030–6 720 U/g), the solid form 51 140 U/g (39 800–59 000 U/g) — two of the five powder batches did not reach the minimum. No viable cells or recombinant DNA of the production strain were found in the batches (the opinion’s sentence on DNA names “VTR-xylanase” — as in the original). Pelleting at 60 °C caused activity losses of 3 to 55 % depending on the feed, and liquid phytase sprayed on pellets lost 48–72 % within 3 months at 25 °C; the coefficient of variation of distribution in feed was 4–6 %.
- Efficacy according to EFSA (2025): in two 28-day trials with Ross 308 chickens phosphorus retention increased from 500 U/kg (e.g. 44.1 → 51.0 %); in a 42-day trial with 128 piglets weight gain, phosphorus digestibility (36.6 → 45.9–50.4 %) and bone ash improved from 250 U/kg; in four trials with gestating and lactating sows 500 U/kg raised apparent phosphorus digestibility (e.g. 29.9 → 45.4 %). The Panel combined these results with earlier ones and set 750 U/kg for piglets.