Effect of Galacto-oligosaccharides as Prebiotic supplementation on Gut Health promotion in Broiler chickens

Abstract

This study examined the effects of galacto-oligosaccharides(GOS) as a prebiotic supplementation on gut health promotion in broiler chickens. A total of 100 day- old ROSS-308 male broiler chickens were randomly allocated into two groups, 5 replicates per group. Control group (CON) received basal diet and experimental group (GOS) received basal diet supplemented with 1% GOS (w/w) for three weeks. Individual body weight and group feed intake were weekly recorded to evaluate the average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Five birds per group were euthanized on weeks 1, 2, 3, and 5 for sample collection. Blood and intestinal content ( duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and cecum) were collected for analysis malondialdehyde (MDA) and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) levels. Internal organs and intestinal tissues were collected for weight measurement and intestinal morphology analysis on week 3, and week 5. The results of this study showed that GOS also had no effect on body weight, feed intake, and average daily gain throughout the whole trial period. However, the GOS group significantly impacted on FCR values during week4-5 (P <0.05). On the week 3, the weight of livers and bursa in the GOS group were significantly lower than in the CON group (P <0.05) while significantly shorter ileum crypt depth and higher ileum villi height per crypt depth ratio were detected in the GOS group compared with the CON group (P <0.05). Furthermore, an increasing trend of villi height on week 3 (P =0.08) in GOS group was observed. The intestinal SCFAs levels of GOS group showed significantly higher than CON group on week 1; duodenum (acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, and valeric acid) (P <0.05), cecum (acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid) (P <0.05), on the week 2; cecum (propionic acid) (P <0.05) and on the week 3; cecum (acetic acid) (P <0.05). In addition, MDA levels of GOS group showed significantly lower than CON group on week 1 and week 3 (P <0.05). These findings suggest that GOS supplementation in broiler chickens could improve gut health. However, further investigation on the efficacy of GOS on the gut microbiota of broiler chickens is required.