Dietary amylose and amylopectin ratio changes starch digestion and intestinal microbiota diversity in goslings.

ABSTRACT

1. Research has confirmed that amylopectin (AP) is more easily digested than amylose (AM) because AP polymers have more intramolecular hydrogen bonds and less surface area. Studying the relationship between the amyloseamylopectin (AMAP) ratio and intestine digestion in goslings can provide useful information for effective utilisation of starch.2. A total of 288 healthy male Jiangnan White Goslings, aged three days old, were randomly allotted to four groups, which included six pen replicates per treatment with 12 goslings per replicate. Four diets were formulated with maize, long-grained rice and glutinous rice as starch sources, with AMAP ratios of 0.12, 0.23, 0.34, and 0.45. In vitro starch digestion of the four diets was measured, as well as the effect of AMAP ratio on growth performance, serum amino-acid concentration and intestinal microbiota diversity of goslings.3. In terms of in vitro starch digestion, the increase in dietary AMAP ratio resulted in a decrease followed by an increase in both rapidly and slowly digestible starch. The glucose release rate at an AMAP ratio of 0.34 showed a steady upward trend.4. The in vivo study showed that increasing the AMAP ratio resulted in a quadratic increase in body weight (BW) and average daily feed intake (ADFI; P < 0.05). Goslings fed diets with an AMAP ratio of 0.34 had lower (P < 0.05) histidine and valine serum concentrations compared with the other three starch sources. Higher AM was beneficial to jejunal microbial and diversity. The species colonisation level of the jejunum microbiota samples at an AMAP ratio of 0.34 was higher than that in the other groups.5. The results indicated that diets with an AMAP ratio of 0.34 improved the growth performance and intestinal microbiota diversity of goslings. This may have been due to the higher level of resistant starch in amylose, which resulted in a slow release of intestinal glucose that acted as a substrate for the microbial species, thus providing conditions that were more conducive to growth.