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.
broiler; nutrition; enzymes; prebiotic
