Evaluating the nutritive profile of three insect meals and their effects to replace soya bean in broiler diet

This study was conducted to evaluate the comparative effect of maggot meal, silkworm meal and mealworm as dietary protein source on the production performance and some aspects of meat quality in broilers. In this regard, maggot meal was reared on chicken offal and poultry waste. Silkworm meal was obtained from silk industry, while mealworm was developed through beetles rearing. A total of 120‐day‐old broiler chicks were randomly divided into four groups where soya bean meal (M0) was replaced with maggot meal (M1), silkworm meal (M2) and mealworm (M3) respectively. Each group was further divided into three replicates. The study was carried out for a period of 5 weeks. Diets containing mealworm significantly reduced overall feed consumption and resulted into higher weight gain (p < .05). Lowest feed conversion ratio (FCR) was recorded for birds fed with mealworm diet (p < .05). Tenderness and juiciness of meat were higher (p < .05) in M3 compared to the control and other treatments. Mortality did not vary between the control and the treated groups. Therefore, it is concluded that insect meal is rich in essential nutrients and could be successfully used in broiler ration without compromising acceptability. In the light of this study, mealworm is the best choice in broiler ration, in comparison with maggot and silkworm.     

Single step genomic evaluation for female fertility in Nordic Red dairy cattle

Joint Nordic (Denmark, Finland, Sweden) genetic evaluation of female fertility is currently based on the multiple trait multilactation animal model (BLUP). Here, single step genomic model (ssGBLUP) was applied for the Nordic Red dairy cattle fertility evaluation. The 11 traits comprised of nonreturn rate and days from first to last insemination in heifers and first three parities, and days from calving to first insemination in the first three parities. Traits had low heritabilities (0.015–0.04), but moderately high genetic correlations between the parities (0.60–0.88). Phenotypic data included 4,226,715 animals with records and pedigree 5,445,392 animals. Unknown parents were assigned into 332 phantom parent groups (PPG). In mixed model equations animals were associated with PPG effects through the pedigree or both the pedigree and genomic information. Genotype information of 46,914 SNPs was available for 33,969 animals in the pedigree. When PPG used pedigree information only, BLUP converged after 2,420 iterations whereas the ssGBLUP evaluation needed over ten thousand iterations. When the PPG effects were solved accounting both the pedigree and the genomic information, the ssGBLUP model converged after 2,406 iterations. Also, with the latter model breeding values by ssGBLUP and BLUP became more consistent and genetic trends followed each other well. Models were validated using forward prediction of the young bulls. Reliabilities and variance inflation of predicted genomic breeding values (values for parent averages in brackets) for the 11 traits ranged 0.22–0.31 (0.10–0.27) and 0.81–0.95 (0.83–1.06), respectively. The ssGBLUP model gave always higher validation reliabilities than BLUP, but largest increases were for the cow fertility traits.     

Effect of bovine seminal plasma on bovine endometrial epithelial cells in culture

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of seminal plasma (SP) from bulls of known fertility on bovine endometrial epithelial cells (bEEC) in culture. The bEEC from passage 5, approximately 5.0–13 × 10⁵ cells per flask, were challenged with SP from bulls of high or low fertility (n = 3 and 2, respectively) or PBS (control), at 1% (75 μl) or 4% (300 μl) and were incubated for 72 hr (n = 13 per challenge). Total cell number and viability of bEEC after challenge with 1% SP from either high‐ or low‐fertility bulls (75H or 75L, respectively) did not differ from controls. In contrast, challenge with 4% of SP from high‐ or low‐fertility bulls (300H or 300L) negatively affected bEEC cell number and viability. Challenge with 300 L had a greater adverse effect than 300H. These results suggest that the negative effect of bovine SP on bEEC is both dose‐dependent and fertility‐dependent.     

Effect of process conditions and amylose/amylopectin ratio on the pasting behavior of maize starch: A modeling approach

The effects of different process conditions on the pasting behavior of the 14%, w/w suspensions of high amylose, waxy and normal maize starches at mixing speeds of 50, 160 and 250 rpm with the heating rates of 2.5, 5 and 10 °C/min were investigated. In addition, the impact of the starch mixture with an amylose-amylopectin ratio of 0–70% at 160 rpm and a heating rate of 5 °C/min on the pasting parameters was studied. According to the results, when stirring speed decreased from 250 rpm to 50 rpm, the peak viscosity dramatically increased. Furthermore, both heating and stirring rates significantly affected the pasting properties (p < 0.05). The amylose content of maize starch had a negative correlation with peak viscosity, trough viscosity, breakdown viscosity, final viscosity, and setback viscosity. Besides, syneresis values decreased as amylose content decreased from 70% to 0%. According to the kinetic modelling of pasting curves, starch coefficients were found to be higher than 1 for all starches, indicating that the penetration of water into starch granules increased granule swelling rate. The findings of the present study confirmed that both process conditions and amylose/amylopectin ratio can be optimized without necessity of starch modification to obtain the products with the desired quality.     

黑茶茶多酚类物质的提取及其抗氧化性能研究

以湖南安化天尖、茯砖及广西六堡3种黑茶为考察对象,研究黑茶中茶多酚的提取工艺以及抗氧化性能。针对超声波不同提取条件,采用正交试验,确定黑茶中茶多酚的最佳提取工艺条件;采用清除二苯代苦味酰自由基(DPPH)的能力和邻苯三酚自氧化体系来评价其抗氧化活性。结果表明:采用超声波热水复合浸提法提取黑茶中茶多酚的最佳提取条件为超声波提取功率250 W,提取固液比1∶25,提取温度55℃,提取时间45min,茯砖黑茶中茶多酚的提取率5.21%;同时测得茯砖黑茶具有较好的抗氧化能力,对DPPH自由基有较强的清除能力,但与维生素C(VC)相比,其抗氧化能力比VC的能力弱;其清除超氧阴离子自由基能力的IC50为0.507μg/mL。     

四川攀西山区植烟土壤养分特征分析与肥力评价

了解土壤肥力对烟田土壤保育具有积极的指导意义。本研究采集了四川攀西山区4个代表性植烟县(区)的19个典型烟田耕层样品,测定了对烤烟产质量影响大且能反映土壤肥力的指标,利用模糊综合评价法计算了土壤肥力综合肥力指数(IFI)。结果表明：19个烟田耕层土壤的pH、有机质、全氮、碱解氮、有效磷、有效钾和水溶性氯含量平均值分别为6.25、21.6 g/kg、1.28 g/kg、120.61 mg/kg、42.84 mg/kg、148.69 mg/kg和7.47 mg/kg,适宜的植烟烟田比例分别为52.67%、26.32%、36.84%、42.11%、36.84%、84.21%和21.05%。烟田土壤肥力综合评价指数介于0.30～0.87,平均为0.55,总体上处于较高水平。施肥上应注意多施钾肥和磷肥并提高其利用率,对氯素低的烟田(<10 mg/kg)可以酌情施用氯肥。     

谷子秸秆剪切力与其饲料营养特性变化规律及相互关系

为探究谷子秸秆力学性质与其饲料特性的变化规律及相互关系，选用谷物完熟期的谷子秸秆，将其分为5段（近根部、中下部、中部、中上部、上部）并每隔7 d进行秸秆节间、茎节力学性质（剪切、压缩）和饲料特性（形态指标、营养成分）测定。试验结果表明：谷物完熟后，随着时间的推进，秸秆节间、茎节剪切力、抗压强度、干物质含量、纤维素含量、半纤维素含量和木质素含量总体上呈增大趋势，而秸秆含水率、当量直径、横截面积、线性密度和粗蛋白含量总体上呈减小趋势。谷子秸秆单位直径剪切力与含水率和线性密度呈负相关关系（R2≥0.903），与其干物质、纤维素、半纤维素和木质素含量呈正相关关系（R2≥0.845），与其粗蛋白含量无显著相关关系（P>0.05）。采收期内，谷子秸秆基部起秸秆剪切力至顶部逐渐增大，且剪切力与当量直径、横截面积呈正相关关系（R2≥0.916）。试验表明谷子秸秆饲料特性指标验证试验值与预测值相对误差不大于6.48%，预测模型合理。测量秸秆剪切力可用于预测其形态指标参数和营养成分含量，进而一定程度地反映秸秆饲用价值和反刍动物择食趋向。采收期内，谷子中部及以上秸秆单位直径剪切力显著小于其近根部（P<0.05），更适合饲用；且谷物完熟后，及时采收可避免秸秆饲用价值降低。该研究可为高效利用谷子秸秆资源提供参考。     

日粮钙水平对空怀期云南半细毛羊生长性能及血清生化指标和繁殖相关激素的影响

试验旨在探讨日粮钙水平对空怀期云南半细毛羊生长性能、配种前血清生化指标和繁殖相关激素的影响,为开展空怀期云南半细毛羊营养需要量研究提供参考。选用50只体况良好、体重相近、38月龄的经产2胎空怀云南半细毛羊,随机均分为5组,分别饲喂0.40%(无外源钙)、0.45%、0.53%、0.66%、0.85%5个钙水平的日粮。预试期14d,正试期30d。结果表明:0.53%钙水平组云南半细毛羊的总增重、平均日增重、平均日采食量、耗料增重比等指标相对优于其他组;0.40%钙水平日粮组的血清钙最高,血清碱性磷酸酶、甲状旁腺素、钙、磷组间差异不显著(P>0.05);繁殖相关激素各组间表现不一,0.40%钙水平组雌二醇水平最高(P>0.05)。在日粮磷水平为0.20%水平条件下,0.53%钙水平组的空怀期云南半细毛羊表现出较好的生长性能,可为临配种前生理生化和激素水平提供较好准备;增加日粮钙水平,未见对以上指标有明显的正向增强作用,可能与日粮钙磷比失衡有关。