The main described effects of MOS are related to pathogen colonisation blocking and being a substract of fermentation to beneficial bacteria, alongside growth and feed conversion improvement. The use of MOS as a pathogen colonisation blocker evolves from the concept that some sugars as mannose could be used as inhibitors of pathogen adhesion to intestinal cells. When fermented, MOS is converted into short chain fatty acids which reduce faecal pH and nourish the gut cells. With the increasing restrictions on antibiotic usage as growth promoters, prebiotics fit as natural alternatives to support a suitable development and to keep the performance of the animals. A trial performed with Holstein heifer calves demonstrated that MOS supplementation led toan average daily weight gain 6.66% higher and reduced costs for the treatment of diarrhoea, compared to a control group. Poultry, laying hens and piglets are particularly responsive to prebiotics. MOS supplementation in piglets has shown to effectively reduce the incidence of acute diarrhoea, with a reduction of up to 47% as demonstrated in a field trial. In a study performed with laying hens at the end of the production cycle, supplemented birds laid up to 3.60 more eggs compared to the control group,with an additional reduction on the Salmonella count in the faeces.
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