Effects of acute environmental and handling exposure on physiology and fillet quality of market‐sized Channel Catfish

Catfish Ictalurus spp. are subjected to stressful conditions during harvest, which may be linked to fillet coloration and quality. Poor water quality in ponds, socks or hauling tanks, as well as handling stress, have been suggested to cause red fillets in catfish; however, chronic exposure has not resulted in red fillets. Short‐term occurrences of extreme poor water quality, particularly low dissolved oxygen, high carbon dioxide and high temperature, may occur in ponds or during harvest. Therefore, market‐sized Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus were acutely exposed (12 hr) to one of the three water quality treatments while confined during a simulated socking procedure and evaluated for stress responses by means of change in blood parameters and fillet quality. In fish subjected to the extreme treatment, hematocrit, plasma cortisol, glucose and lactate levels increased, with 22% mortality, indicating highly stressful conditions. In fish subjected to moderate and typical (control) treatments, cortisol increased but a lack of change or decrease in glucose and lactate indicated minimal anaerobic metabolism. Only one red fillet was produced by the extreme treatment and two by the typical treatment; therefore, the results suggest red fillets are not a product of poor water quality compounded by handling during harvest.     

UV-B对紫叶生菜生长及品质的影响初探

为探讨UV-B在植物工厂紫叶生菜水培种植中的应用,本实验在红蓝组合光中添加不同强度的UV-B,研究对紫叶生菜生长及品质的影响。结果表明：随着UV-B强度的增加,紫叶生菜株高及地上鲜重受到显著抑制。高强度下UV-B辐射会降低紫叶生菜可溶性糖和Vc含量,显著增加花青素及总酚含量,提高抗氧化能力。UV-B辐射可以加深紫叶生菜颜色,对鲜重会产生抑制,需要进一步减少辐射时间。     

西藏昂仁县黄牛人工授精率改良现状及提高措施

西藏日喀则黄牛是乳、肉、役兼用的小型地方原始品种,简称西藏牛,该牲畜品种适应高原气候,耐粗饲,管理较为粗放,抗逆性较强,但是由于该黄牛品种个体较小,性成熟较晚,整体的生产性能低下,严重影响到养殖户的经济效益。目前在西藏日喀则昂仁县黄牛人工授精技术已初步形成体系,人工授精率逐年上升,但是在具体的操作中,由于很多技术人员存在诸多不规范的行为,黄牛的受胎率时好时坏,严重影响品种改良进程。该文主要论述影响西藏昂仁县黄牛人工受精率的因素,提出相应的工作措施。     

红富士生长特性及主要病害的防治

招远市是红富士之乡，是我国红富士苹果的主产区之一。产出的红富士苹果色艳形正、口感 清爽、汁多脆甜、久贮不绵，备受市场欢迎和好评。产量稳定、质量上乘得益于得天独厚的自然条件和 先进的生产技术，得益于果农的辛劳付出，更得意于国家的好政策。生产中，充分了解红富士的生长 特性，并及时防治病害，是确保产量和品质的前提措施之一。     

A two-year comparison on nutritive value and yield of eight lucerne cultivars and one red clover cultivar

Red clover (Trifolium pratense) and lucerne (Medicago sativa) are among the most common legume species used for ruminant feeding systems. Besides the greater nutritive quality and first-year ley yield compared to lucerne, red clover decreases its yield over the years. However, under unfavourable soil conditions the persistency of lucerne can be compromised, not performing as expected. This study compared yield and chemical composition of eight lucerne cultivars and one tetraploid red clover cultivar, with similar growth capacity as lucerne, replicated over two years. In the second year, four lucerne cultivars and the red clover cultivar were analysed for crude protein (CP) fractions, dry matter and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) digestibility. A randomized block design was used with three field blocks per cultivar for the multiple comparisons within each year. There were differences in DM yield, concentrations of CP and NDF and CP fractions among the lucerne cultivars, but the differences were inconsistent between years and between growth cycles within year. The red clover cultivar had lower CP and NDF concentrations than a majority of the lucerne cultivars, and greater in vitro organic matter digestibility compared to all of the lucerne cultivars. Also, the red clover cultivar had greater rumen undegradable-to-degradable CP ratio but confirmed its lower yield persistency compared to the lucerne cultivars.     

Puerarin improved growth performance and postmortem meat quality by regulating lipid metabolism of cattle under hot environment

This study aims to evaluate the effect of puerarin on performance, meat quality, and serum indexes of beef cattle under hot environment. Thirty-two bulls were divided into four groups and fed diet supplemented with puerarin at 0, 200, 400, or 800 mg/kg. Results showed that heat stress was employed for 54 out of 60 days, 400 mg/kg group declined serum cortisol (COR) contents, all treatments increased the contents of total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and total superoxide dismutase activity; in addition, glutathione peroxidase activity of 200 mg/kg group were enhanced, only 800 mg/kg group enhanced immunoglobulin (IgA, IgM, and IgG) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol contents compared with the control (p < .05). Moreover, 400-mg/kg puerarin increased serum growth hormone levels compared with 200 mg/kg group but declined COR concentrations compared with 200 mg/kg and 800 mg/kg groups (p < .05). More importantly, average daily gain and daily matter intake, and intramuscular fat contents of 400 mg/kg group were enhanced, but the shear force of beef in 400 mg/kg and 800 mg/kg groups were declined compared with the control (p < .05). These findings indicated that supplemental with puerarin enhanced immune and antioxidant, and 400 mg/kg of puerarin improved performance and meat quality by normalizing levels of stress hormones and increasing intramuscular fat deposition of beef cattle under hot environment.     

Effects of dietary protein and lipid levels with different protein‐to‐energy ratios on growth performance,feed utilization and body composition of juvenile red‐spotted grouper,Epinephelus akaara

An 8‐week feeding trial was conducted to assess dietary protein and lipid levels on growth performance, feed utilization and body composition of juvenile red‐spotted grouper (7.85 ± 0.03 g fish^?1). Nine semi‐purified diets were formulated containing varying protein levels (440–520 g kg^?1, dry matter) and lipid levels (60–120 g kg^?1, dry matter). The weight gain of juvenile Epinephelus akaara was affected by dietary protein (p = .005) and its interaction with dietary lipid (p = .020). Viscerosomatic index, intraperitoneal fat ratio and whole‐body lipid level increased with increasing dietary lipid level (p < .001). Nitrogen retention was not affected by dietary protein and lipid, while lipid retention decreased with increasing dietary lipid level (p < .001). The plasma blood urea nitrogen increased with increasing dietary protein level (p = .003). This study showed that diet with 520 g kg^?1 protein and 60 g kg^?1 lipid with 30.58 mg kJ^?1 P:E provided a maximal growth for this species. Moreover, an increase in dietary lipid levels (from 60 to 90 g kg^?1) could reduce the protein requirement (from 520 to 480 g kg^?1) without affecting the growth performance, while higher fat deposition was observed in fish fed high‐lipid diets.