A new study carried out by AB Vista’s senior research team has shown that the addition of short chain
xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS) to xylanase-supplemented broiler diets can amplify the enzyme’s impact on performance.
Building on recent research showing that performance improvements in xylanase-supplemented diets are due in part to the xylanase-mediated release of XOS in the gut, the study investigated the influence of adding xylanase alone, or with XOS, to wheat-based broiler diets, AB Vista said.
The company’s global services director Dr. Hadden Graham explained the rationale behind the study: “The benefits associated with xylanase use are widely accepted, but there was a lack of evidence showing whether adding xylanases, alone or with XOS, to a wheat-based diet would influence broiler performance, carcass yield and water intake. This seemed to be an untapped area for possible incremental gains across performance and profit.”
The study employed a randomised complete block design, with 12 pen replicates of 24 birds per diet. Birds were fed wheat / soybean meal diets in a three-phase programme. Weight gain, feed and water intake, mortality and carcass yield were recorded up to 34 days.
Analysis confirmed that xylanase inclusion reduced 34-day mortality, and both the xylanase and xylanase plus XOS diets improved feed conversion rate (FCR) relative to the control. Crucially, supplementation with xylanase and XOS was shown to improve weight gain by approximately 40g, relative to the other diets.
“This research suggests that a combination of short-chain xylo-oligosaccharides, to stimulate microbial fibre degradation, and a xylanase to partly degrade fibre, can act together to improve nutrient digestibility, make the fibre more susceptible to microbial degradation, and thus improve broiler performance,” Dr. Graham said.
The results of the research study will be presented at the Australian Poultry Science Symposium on February 18.