Potential of fructooligosaccharide prebiotics in alternative and nonconventional poultry production systems

Fructooligosaccharide and inulin prebiotics are carbohydrate-based polymers derived from natural sources that can be utilized by certain gastrointestinal tract bacteria but not by the host animal. They are attractive as feed additives for nonconventional poultry production systems because they select for beneficial microorganisms that are thought to promote nutritional benefits to the bird and potentially limit foodborne pathogen establishment. There have been numerous studies conducted with prebiotic supplements to assess their impact in humans, animals, and conventionally raised poultry but only limited research has been conducted with birds grown under nonconventional production conditions. Much remains unknown about the specific mechanism(s) associated with their impact on the host as well as the gastrointestinal tract microflora. Utilization of several recently developed approaches such as microbiome and metabolomic analyses should offer more insight on how dietary prebiotic additives influence the development of the gastrointestinal tract microbiota and these subsequent changes correspond with alterations in a bird's physiology as it matures. As more detailed and precise studies are done with nonconventional poultry, it is likely that structurally distinct prebiotics will influence not only the gastrointestinal tract microbiota differently, but potentially interact directly and/ or indirectly with the bird host in distinguishable patterns as well. These functions will be important to delineate if further applications are to be developed for specific prebiotics in nonconventional poultry production systems.