Effect of mannanoligosaccharides supplementation on caecal microbial activity of rabbits

A total of 200 weaned (35 days) hybrid Hyla rabbits were randomly divided among five groups housed in bicellular cages (20 cages per group). Between 35 and 60 days of age, the groups were submitted to the following treatments: group ANT (positive control) fed a basal diet supplemented with antibiotics (colistin sulphate, 144 mg/kg; tylosin, 100 mg/kg; and oxytetracyclin, 1000 mg/kg); groups MOS_0.5, MOS_1.0 and MOS_1.5 fed the basal diet supplemented with 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 g/kg mannanoligosaccharides (MOS), respectively; another group fed the basal diet without antibiotics or mannanoligosaccarides supplementation (negative control). Along the trial, an episode of epizootyc rabbit enteropathy occurs so that in the control group mortality rate was very high (78%) and survivor rabbits showed severe symptoms of disease (diarrhoea). Thus, the control group was discarded from the trial. At 60 days of age, samples of caecal content were collected from 10 rabbits per group and used as inocula for an in vitro gas production trial. At the end of fermentation (120 h of incubation), organic matter digestibility (OMd), cumulative gas production, fermentation kinetics, pH, volatile fatty acid (VFA) and NH3 productions were measured. Inoculum from MOS_1.0 rabbits showed the significant higher values of OMd (64.21%, P < 0.05), gas production (262.32 ml/g, P < 0.05), acetate (96.99 mmol/g OM, P < 0.05) and butyrate (26.21 mmol/g OM, P < 0.05) than the other groups. Slight differences were recorded among the groups ANT, MOS_0.5 and MOS_1.5. In addition, branched chain acids, in proportion to total VFAs, were significantly higher in MOS_1.0 inoculum (0.04, P < 0.05). MOS are able to affect fermentation activity of caecal micro-organism, but their activities seem not proportional to their level in the diet.