Microbial activity in the large intestine of chickens fed diets containing different sources of inulin-type fructans

Inulin-type fructans are water-soluble compounds of plant origin with varying length of polysaccharide chains, with β-2,1 fructosyl-fructose glycosidic bonds. This type of bond makes it resistant to enzymatic hydrolysis by small intestinal digestive enzymes (specific for α-glycosidic bonds). As a result, inulin fructans are indigestible by enzymes of animal origin and are fermented in the large intestine. The inulin fructans can be found in many plants, but by the industry is mainly extracted from chicory and Jerusalem artichoke. Maintaining animal welfare through the modulation of large intestine function may play an important role, therefore the aim of the study was to determine the effect of diets’ supplementation with different sources of inulin-type fructans on microbial activity in the large intestine of chickens. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.