Animal Science Journal最新文献

We aimed to evaluate the volatile compounds profile in traditional airag samples collected from two regions, including Bulgan and Uvurkhangai provinces, whereas famous airag-making areas in Mongolia. The volatile compounds of airag were investigated by the GC-MS method. A total of 95 kinds of volatile compounds were detected, and these were classified into 6 different classes: 14 acids, 14 alcohols, 16 aldehydes, 19 esters, 9 ketones, and 23 aliphatic hydrocarbons. Among them, acetic acid, 2-methyl propionic acid, isoamyl lactic acid, 2-methyl butanoic acid, hexanoic acid, heptanoic acid, octanoic acid, nonanoic acid, n-decanoic acid, 1-propanol, 3-methyl 1-butanol, phenyl ethyl alcohol, acetaldehyde, acetoin, ethyl acetate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl caprylate, ethyl decanoate, ethyl 9-decanoate, and ethyl laurate had a high concentration in airag samples. It may explain that acids, alcohols, and esters mainly influence the taste and aroma of airag, and aldehydes change depending on their fermentation time. We also found that Bulgan provinces` samples contained 20 types of aliphatic hydrocarbons, which may relate to the vegetation and fermentation process. The formation of sensory characteristics in airag is a complex and unclear process because it affects many factors. Our findings provide essential guidance on the composition of volatile compounds in Mongol airag.

This study aims to evaluate the relationship between mineral digestibility and fecal characteristics and compare digestibility in dry and late-lactating cows. A total of 107 multiparous Holstein and Simmental cows were included, with 66 cows in late lactation and 41 cows in the dry period. The apparent digestibility of key macro minerals, dry matter content in feces, dirtiness scores, fecal characteristics, and serum macro mineral levels were determined. Cows consuming the same diet were arranged according to a completely randomized design. Results showed that, compared to the late lactation group, the dry period group had a significantly lower total dirtiness score, higher phosphorus digestibility, and elevated serum calcium levels (p < 0.05). Additionally, fecal consistency and fecal height were greater in the dry period group (p < 0.05). However, the increased phosphorus digestibility observed during the dry period was not significantly associated with fecal consistency (r = +0.225, p < 0.05) or the total contamination score (r = -0.339, p < 0.05). Consequently, this study reveals that understanding the differences in mineral digestibility between different physiological stages can enhance nutritional approaches for better dairy cow management.

The Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium (CRP), is the aged peel of Citrus fruit, which contains phenols, flavonoids, and polysaccharides. This study aims to investigate dietary CRP supplementation on the growth performance, serum biochemical indices, meat quality, intestinal morphology, microbiota, and metabolite of yellow-feathered broilers. A total of 240 yellow-feathered broilers (1.00 ± 0.22 kg, 9 weeks old) were randomly allotted into 4 treatments feeding a basal diet (control), the basal diet containing antibiotics (positive control), and the control diet containing 1.5% and 3% CRP, respectively. At the end of a 56-day trial, one broiler from each replicate was selected, and samples of ileal tissue and cecal digesta were collected to analyze intestinal morphology, microbial composition, and metabolites. The results revealed that 3% CRP decreased average daily feed intake (ADFI), serum total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). The CRP supplementation could increase serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) and meat pH. Broilers fed CRP had elevated antioxidant and liquid-regulated metabolites. Together, the results suggested that incorporating a moderate level of CRP has a minor impact on growth performance and could benefit health to some extent by enhancing antioxidants, regulating serum liquid, and changing microbial composition and metabolites.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of myristic acid on jejunal mucosal microbiota, mucosal immunity, and growth performance of nursery pigs. Thirty-six pigs (6.6 ± 0.4 kg of body weight) were assigned to three treatments (n = 12) for 35 d in three phases: (NC) basal diet; (PC) NC + bacitracin; and (MA) NC + myristic acid compound. Pigs were euthanized to collect jejunal mucosa, jejunal tissues, and ileal digesta. The PC increased (p < 0.05) the relative abundance (RA) of Lactobacillus spp., and Bifidobacterium boum than the NC group. The MA increased (p < 0.05) RA of Bifidobacterium dentium and Megasphaera spp. than the NC group. The PC tended to decrease IL-8 (p = 0.053) and protein carbonyl (p = 0.075) whereas IgG (p = 0.051) and IL-8 (p = 0.090) in jejunal mucosa were decreased by the MA. The PC increased (p < 0.05) the villus height to crypt depth ratio than the NC group. Both bacitracin and myristic acid improved the intestinal health and growth performance of nursery pigs. Effects of bacitracin were rather immediate whereas the effects of myristic acid were obtained after a 3-week feeding.

The pH of venison is affected by deer capture methods, which affects its water-holding capacity (WHC) during heating. Therefore, cooking or processing venison requires careful consideration of WHC at different pH levels. While this requires nondestructively measuring the pH of venison during distribution, there are no established methods to nondestructively distinguish between normal- and high-pH meats. We investigated the relationship between the pH of venison and impedance measured with touch-type electrodes. Significant negative correlations were found between pH before and after storage and drip loss (p < 0.05) and between impedance before storage using touch-type electrodes measured at 10 kHz and pH after 24 h of storage (p < 0.01). These results provided an estimating equation (y = -0.10x + 10.84) that can be used to nondestructively determine the pH of venison (y) after 24 h of storage by measuring its impedance (x) before storage using touch-type electrodes measured at 10 kHz (p < 0.01). Therefore, this study suggests the possibility of nondestructively estimating venison pH by measuring impedance using touch-type electrodes.

Glutamic acid (Glu) and fat are recognized as primary flavor components in meat. This study aimed to determine the discrimination threshold of an untrained panel for Glu and fat in meat. Thirty-two untrained panelists were recruited among research institute employees. First, triangle tests were performed using chicken broth supplemented with Glu at concentrations of 10, 50, 110, and 200 μg/ml and broth without Glu supplementation (control). The Glu supplementation test did not distinguish between Glu-supplemented broth and the control. Thus, the discrimination threshold for Glu in chicken broth was determined to be >200 μg/ml. Second, triangle tests were performed using chicken oil-emulsified broth at concentrations of 43, 129, 387, and 1160 μg/ml and broth without chicken oil supplementation. The probability of choosing the correct sample in the triangle test for each chicken oil concentration was calculated. The probit regression analysis estimated the discrimination threshold for chicken oil in chicken broth to be 341 μg/ml among untrained panelists. Although the number of untrained panelists recruited in this study was limited, our results provided useful findings for evaluating and improving meat quality utilizing Glu and fat content.

Management of storage period is essential for meat. The purpose of this study was to develop a technique for predicting storage period in pork loins using a compact impedance-measuring device. Eight measurement positions were placed on pork loin block meat from five fattening pigs, and impedance values at frequencies of 2 and 100 kHz, modified K values (mK values), which are derived from nucleotide-related substances were collected during storage ranging from 0 to 14 days. We developed regression equations using the storage days or mK values as the objective variable and both the impedance ratio (2 kHz/100 kHz) and the 100 kHz impedance value as the explanatory variable for one-position measurements, obtaining the coefficients of determination of 0.80 and 0.79, respectively. These results indicated that the compact impedance-measuring device can be used to predict the storage days of pork loins. In this study, we developed a simple technique for predicting pork loin storage period using a compact impedance-measuring device that can be applied nondestructively in the meat processing industry.

The aim of this research was to determine the effect of free and nanoencapsulated garlic essential oil (GEO) on performance, serum biochemistry, and immune functions. Broiler chickens (900 males 1-day-old, Ross 308) were randomly assigned to six treatment diets (0, 75, or 150 mg/kg free GEO and 0 [containing chitosan], 75, or 150 mg/kg nanoencapsulated GEO) in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments. The inclusion of nanoencapsulated GEO with a concentration of 75 mg/kg significantly increased the growth performance (p < 0.05) of the birds fed the diet containing free GEO (75 mg/kg). Also, GEO nanocapsules significantly reduced serum total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) compared to the control diet (p < 0.05) (42 days), sheep red blood cell (SRBC) antibody titer (35 and 42 days), heterophilus (H): lymphocyte (L), and H ratio, 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) (42 days) (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the findings show that the amount of 75 (mg/kg) of the nanoencapsulated GEO, compared to the free GEO, causes more growth performance and strengthens the immune system of broiler chickens.

Heat stress (HS) reduces dry-matter intake and causes negative energy balance (EB) in Holstein cattle, with consequent deterioration in milk production and wellness. Therefore, the effects of HS can be detected more directly from imbalances in EB than from the consequent changes in production or health traits. EB can be monitored by metabolism-related traits such as predicted EB (PEB), the fat-to-protein ratio (FPR), or β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) in milk. We examined the days on which HS effects on the test-day PEB, FPR, or milk BHB were the greatest in first lactation. We collected weather records and test-day records. We considered the fixed effects of herd-year, test month, calving age, days in milk, temperature–humidity index (THI) from any one of test day to 14 days prior (15 models per trait), and random effects of animal and residuals in the models and compared the deviance information criterion (DIC) between models for each trait. For PEB, FPR, and milk BHB, the model gave the lowest DIC when including the effect of THI 1, 1, and 0 day before the test day. We observed that HS caused a decrease in PEB and an increase in FPR and milk BHB.

Sustainability in beekeeping depends on identifying the factors affecting honey and beeswax yields (HY and BWY) - key products - and accurately predicting these yields. Therefore, this study aimed to predict HY and BWY using a classification and regression tree (CART), eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and Random Forest (RF) algorithms, and thermal image processing in Apis mellifera. In this study, 13 colonies of 6 different breeds raised in 10-frame Langstroth hives were used. The effects of independent variables were predicted using data mining algorithms and 15 performance metrics for the effectiveness of the algorithms. Colony power (CP), thermal temperatures (T_min, T_max, and T_mean), breed, a*, b*, red, green, saturation, and brightness impacted HY and BWY in different algorithms, but not birth year of queen, L, hue and blue. As a result, XGBoost, CART, and RF demonstrated high predictive performance, respectively. Due to their higher predictive performance, XGBoost and CART algorithms could predict HY and BWY using CP, thermal temperatures, and image values. These techniques could be useful for producers to monitor production quickly and non-invasively without threatening colony welfare.