title: Effects of inulin on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and metabolisable energy in broiler chickens.
abstract: 1. A 35 d feeding trial with 480 d-old male broiler chickens (Cobb) was conducted to evaluate the effects of graded levels of inulin (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 g/kg diet) in a maize-soybean meal based diet on growth performance, AME(N) and apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of crude protein, amino acids, starch, crude fat and fatty acids. A commercial product (Inulina 95) containing 9140 g/kg of inulin and a degree of polymerisation (DP) ranging from DP 1-10 to DP 51-60 was used. 2. The performance of birds (feed intake, BW gain and feed to gain ratio) was not affected by the different dietary inclusions of inulin. 3. Dietary inulin significantly improved the AID coefficient of crude protein and crude fat. Also, there was a significant effect of inulin on the digestibility of most amino acids (10 out of 15) and major fatty acids (oleic and linoleic acids). The AID coefficient of starch and the AME(N) content of diets were not affected by inulin inclusion. 4. In conclusion, the current study showed that inulin supplementation improved the digestibility of protein and fat in a maize-soybean meal based diet, but had no effect on the performance of broiler chickens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Production, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain. alzueta@vet.ucm.es
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alzueta
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.forename: L T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rebolé
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Treviño
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004063:Digestion / Q000187:drug effects*; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects*; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology; D007444:Inulin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D056692:Prebiotics; D013025:Glycine max / Q000378:metabolism; D003313:Zea mays / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004044:Dietary Proteins; D056692:Prebiotics; D007444:Inulin