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Dietary Inclusion of Wheat Bran Arabinoxylooligosaccharides Induces Beneficial Nutritional Effects in Chickens

¹Laboratory of Food Chemistry and Biochemistry, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, BE-3001 Leuven, Belgium. ²Corresponding author. Phone: +32 (0)16321917. Fax: +32 (0)16321997. E-mail: christophe.courtin@biw.kuleuven.be ³K.U. Leuven Research & Development, Minderbroedersstraat 8A, BE-3000 Leuven, Belgium. ⁴Laboratory of Physiology and Immunology of Domestic Animals, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30, BE-3001 Leuven, Belgium. ⁵Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology (LabMET), Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, BE-9000 Gent, Belgium. ⁶Instituut voor Landbouw- en Visserijonderzoek (ILVO), Animal Sciences Unit Scheldeweg 68, BE-9090, Melle, Belgium.

In vivo experiments were conducted to verify whether arabinoxylooligosaccharides (AXOS) obtained as low molecular mass compounds by enzymic hydrolysis from wheat bran arabinoxylan (AX) can exert nutritional effects. Two feeding trials were performed on chickens fed diets with either wheat or maize as the main component. Supplementation of bran AXOS at either 0.5% (w/w) to the wheat-based diet or at 0.25% (w/w) to the maize-based diet diets significantly (P < 0.05) improved the feed conversion rate without increasing the body weight of the animals, thus pointing to improved nutrient utilization efficiency. The positive effect of bran AXOS supplementation on feed utilization efficiency was similar to that obtained by adding an AX-degrading xylanase directly to the wheat-based diet. No significant effect on feed utilization efficiency was obtained with another type of nondigestible oligosaccharide such as fructooligosaccharides (FOS) derived from chicory roots. Bran AXOS significantly increased the level of bifidobacteria but not total bacteria in the caeca of the chickens, an effect not observed with either xylanase or FOS addition. These data suggest that bran AXOS have beneficial nutritional effects and may act as prebiotics.