Prediction of chemical composition and peroxide value in unground pet foods by near‐infrared spectroscopy

The massive development of the pet food industry in recent years has lead to the formulation of hundreds of canine and feline complete extruded foods with the objective of meeting both the needs of the animals and numerous demands from pet owners. In the meantime, highly variable raw material compositions and the industry's new production techniques oblige manufacturers to monitor all phases of the extrusion process closely in order to ensure the targeted composition and quality of the products. This study aimed at evaluating the potential of infrared technology (visible and near‐infrared spectrophotometer; 570–1842 nm) in predicting the chemical composition and peroxide value (PV) of unground commercial extruded dog foods. Six hundred and forty‐nine commercial extruded dog foods were collected. For each product, an unground aliquot was analysed by infrared instrument while a second aliquot was sent to a laboratory for proximate analysis and PV quantification. The wide range of extruded dog food typologies included in the study was responsible for the wide variability observed within each nutritional trait, especially crude fibre and ash. The mean value of the 208 pet foods sampled for PV quantification was 17.49 mEq O₂/kg fat (min 2.2 and max 94.10 mEq O₂/kg fat). The coefficients of determination in cross‐validation of NIRS prediction models were 0.77, 0.97, 0.83, 0.86, 0.78 and 0.94 for moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, ash and nitrogen‐free extract (NFE) respectively. PV prediction was less precise, as demonstrated by the coefficient of determination in cross‐validation (0.66). The results demonstrated the potential of NIRS in predicting chemical composition in unground samples, with lower accuracy for moisture and ash, while PV prediction models suggest use for screening purposes only.     

半滑舌鳎源美人鱼发光杆菌美人鱼亚种的分离鉴定

2016年5月河北省秦皇岛市昌黎县某海水养殖基地半滑舌鳎突发大批死亡,为了确定引起死亡的病原菌,无菌采集心血进行病原菌分离鉴定,16S rDNA基因序列分析与GenBank中公布的美人鱼发光杆菌参考株序列同源性为99.6%,被鉴定为美人鱼发光杆菌;进一步通过生化特性分析,被确认为美人鱼发光杆菌美人鱼亚种。动物回归试验结果表明,其对舌鳎鱼具有很强的致病性,其LD_(50)为3.1×10~4CFU/mL,且对哺乳动物具有致病性。药敏试验结果显示,分离菌对诺氟沙星、恩诺沙星、环丙沙星,乙酰甲喹高度敏感;对多西环素、阿米卡星中敏感;对庆大霉素、头孢曲松、替米考星等不敏感。     

新疆沙尔套山四季放牧草地主要牧草营养价值变化特征研究

以新疆昭苏县域内沙尔套山分布的12种主要牧草为研究对象,对其营养物质和瘤胃体外消化率特征进行分析,以期揭示各牧草营养物质和消化率的季节性变化规律。结果表明,各牧草的营养物质含量和消化率特征指标均存在明显的季节性变化规律。通过模糊相似优先比分析,综合营养物质(干物质、粗蛋白、中/酸性洗涤纤维、粗脂肪、粗灰分)和瘤胃体外消化率特征(有机物消化率、代谢能)的8项指标进行综合营养价值评价,主要结论为:1)研究区放牧草地12种主要牧草中针茅、芨芨草、紫花鸢尾综合营养价值最佳季节在春季营养生长期(6月),其余牧草均为夏季开花期(7月)。2)春季营养生长期(6月)和秋季果后营养期(9月),综合营养价值最好的均为鸭茅;夏季开花期(7月),综合价值最好的牧草为西伯利亚羽衣草;秋季结实期(8月),综合营养价值最好的牧草为红花车轴草;冬季停止生长(10月)和枯草期(11月),综合营养价值最好的分别为针茅和紫花鸢尾。     

Guanidinoacetic acid supplementation in broiler chickens fed on corn-soybean diets affects performance in the finisher period and energy metabolites in breast muscle independent of diet nutrient density

(1) Guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) is the single immediate endogenous precursor of creatine (Cr). It was hypothesised that dietary GAA would have different effects on performance and energy metabolites in breast muscle depending on the nutrient density (ND) of corn-soybean-based diets.

(2) A total of 540 one-day-old male Ross 308 broilers were allocated to 9 dietary treatments with 6 replicates (10 birds each) in a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement with three levels of ND (low, 2800; medium, 2950 and high, 3100 kcal metabolizable energy (ME)/kg; and with the other nutrients being constant relative to ME) and supplemented with three levels of GAA (0, 0.6 and 1.2 g/kg) in a 42-d feeding trial.

(3) In the starter and grower periods, increasing levels of ND improved body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR), with the exception of ADFI in the starter period. GAA supplementation did not affect performance characteristics. All performance indicators responded markedly to increasing ND in the finisher period, whereas the highest GAA level reduced ADFI compared to the unsupplemented control (156 vs. 162 g/d) and concomitantly FCR (1.81 vs. 1.93). No interactive effects were noted for any performance trait. The high ND diet resulted in more breast meat yield on d42, associated with higher fat content and darker colour compared to the other ND levels. The GAA supplementation did not affect carcass and breast traits. At the end of the experiment, Cr was elevated when feeding GAA at 1.2 g/kg (5455 vs. 4338 mg/kg fresh muscle).

(4) To conclude, ND had a substantial effect on performance and carcass traits, whereas any effect of GAA was limited to FCR in the finisher period and independent of diet ND level.     

中国荷斯坦牛部分乳房结构特性对泌乳性能的影响

本研究对规模化场奶牛乳房结构部分性状进行评价和测定,旨在分析其影响因素及其与泌乳性能的关系。现场评价和测定我国北方6个规模化奶牛场荷斯坦牛的乳房均衡(2 030条)、乳头长度(1 551条)和乳头位置评分(分前、后乳头,2 839条),使用SAS 9.2 GLM过程采用固定效应模型分析影响上述3个乳房性状的因素,同时分析3个单项性状对校正日产奶量和体细胞评分的影响。结果表明:场和胎次对3个乳房性状影响极显著(P0.01);前、后乳头位置和后乳头长度对校正日产奶量有显著影响(P0.05),校正日产奶量与前乳头位置评分值呈正比,与后乳头位置评分值呈反比;前乳头位置和长度对体细胞评分有显著影响(P0.05),体细胞评分随前乳头位置评分的增大而减小;5~5.5 cm的乳头长度对于校正日产奶量和体细胞评分都最佳。本研究结果为通过乳房性状选择、淘汰并提高奶牛的生产性能、乳房健康提供了参考。     

Tall oil fatty acid inclusion in the diet improves performance and increases ileal density of lactobacilli in broiler chickens

1. Studies were conducted with tall oil fatty acids (TOFA) to determine their effect on broiler chicken performance and ileal microbiota. TOFA, a product originating from coniferous trees and recovered by fractional distillation of side-streams from pulp production, mainly comprises free long-chain fatty acids (~90%) and resin acids (~8%). Conjugated linolenic acids and pinolenic acid are characteristic fatty acid components of TOFA.

2. TOFA products at 750 mg/kg feed were tested in two 35-day broiler chicken trials, each using a wheat soya-based diet and with 12 replicate pens per treatment. In both trials, TOFA improved body weight gain at all time points (P < 0.001) and feed conversion efficiency during the first 21 days (P < 0.01). Two different dry TOFA formulations (silica carrier and palm oil coating) were tested and showed performance effects similar to liquid TOFA.

3. Ileal digesta of the broiler chickens was analysed for total eubacteria, Lactobacillus spp., Enterococcus spp., Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens on days 14 and 35. TOFA significantly increased total eubacteria and lactobacilli density on day 14 (P < 0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between these bacterial groups and broiler body weight on day 14 (P < 0.01).

4. A numerical reduction in C. perfringens was observed. In vitro growth inhibition studies showed that C. perfringens was strongly inhibited by 10 mg/l TOFA (P < 0.001), while common lactobacilli were resistant to >250 mg/l. The in vitro results were thus in line with in vivo observations.

5. The mechanisms behind the bacterial shifts and their role in performance improvement are unknown. Further purification of TOFA components is needed to identify the effective agents.