Researchers at this year’s European Poultry Conference in Dubrovnik (17th-21st September) presented new data to shed further light on the proposed mechanism of action of xylanases, frequently used in broiler diets to improve feed digestibility by degrading the arabinoxylan fraction of dietary fibre.
Through the production of small soluble fibre fragments, arabinoxylo-oligosaccharides (AXOS), xylanases can exert a prebiotic effect in the gastrointestinal tract of broilers. This effect is thought to be moderated by broiler age, due to differences in the relative maturity of the gut microbiome with time.
Research presented from KU Leuven, Belgium, supported by AB Vista, measured the impact of broiler age on arabinoxylan digestion in the GI tract when supplementing diets with AXOS. Chicks supplemented from hatching with 0.5% AXOS in a wheat-based diet demonstrated higher levels of arabinoxylan solubilization and fermentation, compared to control birds at 5 days of age.
AXOS supplementation in young broilers was shown to stimulate arabinoxylan degradation, speeding up the development of a fibre-fermenting microbiome in the young broiler. This training or stimulation effect could enable greater functional value to be extracted from dietary fibre in broiler feed.
For more information, contact AB Vista on +34918591787 or emea@abvista.com. Follow AB Vista on Twitter: @ABVista_EMEA.
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Notes to editor:
AB Vista is an animal nutrition technology company offering pioneering products and technical services to the global animal feed industry. Since its establishment in 2004, AB Vista has grown to be a top-three player in feed enzymes and is also one of the largest suppliers of natural betaine to the global animal nutrition industry. The company invests heavily in research and development and has a growing portfolio of products and services spanning the poultry, swine, ruminant and aquaculture sectors. AB Vista is headquartered in the UK, with regional offices located in the USA, Brazil, Singapore, Spain, India, China, Germany and Finland.
AB Vista is part of AB Agri, the agricultural division of Associated British Foods, one of Europe’s largest food & retail companies with a market capitalisation of £22 billion.
For further press information please contact Sonya Hayden or Sue Milne-Bennett on +44 (0)20 8647 4467.
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