The equine digestive tract is prone to health disturbances,
predominantly after feed changes and overload with easily fermentable
carbohydrates. This is usually accompanied by alterations in the diversity and
activity of the intestinal microbiota.
Prebiotics are supposed to have the potency to promote the
guts’ health by providing substrates selectively for particular
beneficial indigenous microorganisms. In horse feeding, inulin-type fructans with different chain
length such as short chain fructo-oligosaccharides (scFOS) or inulin itself are
implemented as prebiotic substances.
Depending on the amount of intake, both inulin- and phlein-type
fructans (the latter deriving from vegetative parts of temperate grasses) have
either critical or beneficial properties.
