Performance and morphology of intestinal mucosa of broilers fed mannan-oligosaccharides and enzymes

The performance and the morphology of intestinal mucosa of broilers fed mannan-oligosaccharides ( MOS) and enzymes ( E) from one to 21-day-old were evaluated using 750 one-day-old chicks, assigned to a 2 x 2 + 1 factorial design - two levels of MOS ( 0 and 0.1%), two levels of E ( 0 and 0.05%) plus an antibiotic positive control diet - performing five treatments of five replications each one. MOS x E interaction was significant for both duodenal ( P < 0.002 and P < 0.002) and ileal ( P < 0.04 and P < 0.05) perimeters and heights of villi, being the values lower in the mucosa of birds fed non-supplemented diets. MOS based-diet determined an increase on perimeter of jejunal villi ( P < 0.05). Compared with antibiotic treatment group, villi perimeter ( P < 0.02) and height ( P < 0.005), and crypt depth ( P < 0.02) of duodenum of broiler fed MOS were higher. Broilers fed MOS and/ or E did not perform better, but higher villi perimeter and height were observed in the intestinal mucosa of those birds.