A new study carried out by the AB Vista 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 partly 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, according to the announcement from AB Vista.

AB Vista 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 randomized complete block design, with 12 pen replicates of 24 birds per diet. Birds were fed wheat/soybean meal diets in a three-phase program, AB Vista said. 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 ratio relative to the control, AB Vista said. Crucially, supplementation with xylanase and XOS was shown to improve weight gain by approximately 40 g relative to the other diets.

“This research suggests that a combination of short-chain xylo-oligosaccharides, to stimulate microbial fiber degradation, and a xylanase to partly degrade fiber, can act together to improve nutrient digestibility, make the fiber more susceptible to microbial degradation and, thus, improve broiler performance,” Graham concluded.

AB Vista said the results of this research study will be presented Feb. 18 at the Australian Poultry Science Symposium in Sydney, Australia.