The current study aimed to investigate the effect of supplementing an emulsifier, xylanase or a combination of both on the growth performance, digestibility of nutrients, microflora activity and intestinal morphology in broiler chickens fed triticale-based diets. A total of 480 one-day-old male Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments: control (CON), control with an added emulsifier (EMU), control with added xylanase (ENZ) and control with emulsifier and xylanase (EMU+ENZ). Xylanase supplemented groups had diminished feed intake (FI) and enhanced body weight gain (BWG) only within the starter period (p ≤ 0.05), while the feed conversion ratio (FCR) in the ENZ and ENZ+EMU groups was lower than CON during the whole experiment period. There was significant ENZ and EMU interaction in apparent metabolisable energy corrected to N equilibrium (AMEN) as well as NDF and DM retention. The viscosity of ileum digesta was the lowest in groups with enzyme addition. Interactions show that caecal galactosidase-α activity was higher in the CON group compared to EMU supplementation, but similar to ENZ and EMU+ENZ (p < 0.05). Activity of glucosidase-α was higher in the CON group related to inclusion of EMU or ENZ alone (p < 0.05) but did not differ from the combined supplementation of EMU+ENZ, whereas the glucosidase-β activity was higher in the CON group compared to all supplemented diets (p < 0.05). Caecal C2 concentration was greater in the CON group than supplemented diets (p < 0.05). The expression of FATP1, PEPT1 and SGLT1 in the ileum was downregulated after emulsifier addition (p ≤ 0.05). The addition of emulsifier and xylanase indicates a mutual effect on broiler chickens' performance and nutrient digestibility in triticale diets with palm oil during the first nutritional period. Additionally, concomitantly additives usage influenced intestinal microbiome activity, as well.
Keywords: Intestinal SCFA; Xylanase; broiler chicken microbiome; emulsifier; viscosity.