Table 7 Examples of trials regarding the effect of prebiotics on animal health
From: The role of probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics in animal nutrition
Reference | Subjects | Prebiotic | Time | Main outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Absorption and utilisation of feed, diarrhoea, body weight gain | ||||
 [124] | 240 Broiler chickens | FOS | 49 days | Administration of fructooligosaccharides at the dose of 4 g/kg feed had a positive effect on the mean daily growth of studied animals, and on growth of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus bacteria, with a simultaneous inhibition of growth of Escherichia coli in experimental animals’’ gastrointestinal tract |
 [112] | 320 Turkeys | FOS | 8 weeks | No effect on growth and productivity of experimental animals. However, reduction of the intestinal pH was noted in case of FOS administration at the concentration of 2% |
 [125] | 96 Broiler chickens | Fructans from chicory | 6 weeks | An improved body weight gain, feed turnover and reduced serum cholesterol |
 [116] | 40 Turkeys | MOS, inulin | 8 weeks | No increased feed consumption or higher body weight of experimental animals were observed. A higher SCFA concentration was found in animals fed with prebiotics, compared to the control |
 [117] | 180 Turkeys | MOS | 18 weeks | Improved growth of experimental animals |
 [120] | 120 Chickens | Inulin, oligofructose, MOS, short-chain oligosaccharide, TOS | 21 days | No significant body weight gain. The study demonstrated that an excessively high prebiotic dose may have a negative impact on the gastrointestinal system and delay the process of growth of animals |
Intestinal ecosystem imbalance, pathogenic infections | ||||
 [110] | 12 Pigs | TOS | 6 weeks | A significant increase of stool Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus count compared to the control group |
 [111] | 40 Weaned male pigs | GOS | Mean of 34 days | A significant increase of Bifidobacterium genus bacteria count and of concentration of acetic acid, with simultaneous reduction of intestinal pH compared to the control group, and the diet with an addition of inulin. Moreover, the GOS supplementation caused a strong inhibition of adhesion of Escherichia coli (ETEC) and Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium to HT29 cells in in vitro studies |
 [114] | 98 Broiler chickens | Fructans from chicory | 6 weeks | The supplementation with fructans caused an increase Lactobacillus genus bacteria count and reduction of count of potential pathogens, such as Salmonella and Campylobacter |
 [115] | 380 Chickens | Fructans from artichoke | 35 days | Reduced Clostridium perfringens count and bacterial endotoxin level |
 [119] | 120 Broiler chickens infected with Salmonella Typhmiurium | IMO | 21 days | A significant reduction of Salmonella Typhimurium count. Chewing, digestion and effectiveness of the administered feed were not significantly different from the control. group. A significant loss of weight in case of animals fed with 1% IMO compared to the control group. The supplementation with IMO caused an increase of the Bifidobacterium count in the gastrointestinal system of experimental animals |
Improved quality of meat, milk, eggs | ||||
 [126] | 350,560 Eggs from Ross 308 broiler | DiNovo (DN; laminarin and fucoidan), Bi2tos (BI; non-digestive TOS) | 42 days | No significant differences in the final count of chickens, mortality, breeding density (kg/m3), FCR, European Broiler Index between all experimental groups. The administration of DN and BI resulted in a minor increase (P > 0.05) of the mean BW and a minor improvement (P > 0.05) of FCR in the BI group. Chickens exposed to DN and BI demonstrated a significant increase of BW, carcase weight, weight of the myocardium and weight of the breast, compared to the control group. Summing up, the administration of prebiotics in ovo resulted in an improvement of many parameters significant for the commercial production of poultry |