196,203 research outputs found
Sustainability of sheep and goat production systems. In: Sustainability of Agro-Food and Natural Resource Systems in the Mediterranean Basin
No full textFirst comparison of early post-mortem proteomes in two goat muscle types: M. Longissimus thoracis and M. semitendinosus
No full textThis study aimed to characterize and compare the muscle proteomes of goat Longissimus thoracis (LT) and Semitendinosus (ST) muscles taken early post-mortem from young crossbred males. Thanks to a quantitative proteomics approach, 129 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified. The proteins belong to five
interconnected biological pathways: muscle contraction and structure (n =47), catalytic, metabolism & ATP processes (n =33), binding and transport (n =23), oxidative stress and cell redox homeostasis (n =10), response to stress and protein folding (n =6). An additional group of miscellaneous proteins (n =10) grouped proteins playing other functions. The chemometrics analyses allowed clear separations of the muscles and evidenced 14 common proteins (ACTB, ACTN3, TMOD4, TPM3, TNNT1, AK1, AKR1B1, ACAA2, GPI, AGL, DNPEP, RTN4, ATP2A1, and CAVIN4) that could be considered as potential biomarkers. Overall, the study provided the first insights on the differences between goat LT and ST muscles and the basis related to the regulation of the skeletal
muscle. Moreover, it resulted that a better understanding of the muscle characteristics would help in developing practices/processes to monitor meat quality and reduce the variations in fresh quality of meat, aged meat, and/or processed goat meat products
Influence of packaging on shelf-life and microbiological quality of minimally processed fennels (Foeniculum vulgare)
No full textThe influence of different packaging techniques on microbiology of minimally processed fennels was studied. In the ready-to-use fennels packaged in ordinary atmosphere the most of the microorganisms belonged to Pseudomonadaceoe; on the contrary Vibrionaceae and Enterobacteriaceae are predominant in vacuum packaged samples. The combination of vacuum packaging and refrigeration (+4°C) was able to extend the product "shelf-life"
Climate resilience in small ruminant and immune system: An old alliance in the new sustainability context
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Substituting corn silage with reconstituted forage or nonforage fiber sources in the starter diets of Holstein calves: Effects on performance, ruminal fermentation, and blood metabolites
No full textWe examined the effects of replacing corn silage (CS) with reconstituted alfalfa hay (AH) or beet pulp (BP) in the starter diet on the nutrient intake and digestibility, growth performance, rumen fermentation characteristics, selected blood metabolites, and health status in Holstein dairy calves. Newborn female calves (n = 54; 3 d of age; 39.8 ± 1.36 kg BW) were assigned randomly to 3 groups receiving starter diets containing CS [10% dry matter (DM) basis; CS diet) and reconstituted AH (10% DM, RAH diet) or BP (10% DM; RBP diet). The starter diets had the same nutrient composition and DM content. The calves were weaned on day 50 and the study continued until day 70. Nutrient intake, body weight (at weaning and at the end of the study), daily weight gain, feed efficiency, and body measurements (including heart girth, withers height, body length, body barrel, hip height, and hip width) were not affected by the diet (P > 0.05). Health-related variables including rectal temperature, fecal score, and general appearance score were not influenced by the diets (P > 0.05). During the postweaning period, apparent total tract digestibility of DM, organic matter, and crude protein were higher for RBP (P = 0.001); however, digestibility of neutral detergent fiber was lower in RAH compared with CS or RBP (P = 0.001). Daily amount of nutrient digestibility did not change across the diets (P > 0.05). Rumen fluid pH and total volatile fatty acid concentration and profile were not different across the diets after weaning (P > 0.05). Calves fed RAH or RBP had higher blood concentration of β-hydroxy butyric acid compared with CS only before weaning (P = 0.03). Blood albumin concentration was higher for RBP compared with CS or RAH during the preweaning (P = 0.006) and overall (P = 0.005) periods; however, it was lower for CS compared with RBP after weaning (P = 0.03). Concentration of other blood variables including glucose, blood urea N, total protein, and globulin did not change across the diets (P > 0.05). Calves, in general, were healthy, and replacing CS with RAH or RBP in the starter diet had no beneficial effect on their feed intake or growth performance indicating that CS and reconstituted AH or BP can be used interchangeably in dairy calf starter diets until 70 d of age, allowing dairy producers more choices in selecting the feed ingredients
Effects of litter management on airborne particulates in sheep houses and on the yield and quality of ewe milk
No full textForty early-lactating Comisana ewes, with no history of mastitis, were used in an 8-week experiment. The animals were divided into four groups of 10 and housed in four separate rooms in the same building. The treatments were: (1) fortnightly application of 0.5 kg granular bentonite per M of litter (BENT), (2) litter renewal after the first 4 weeks of the trial, without bentonite treatments (REN), (3) fortnightly litter treatments with bentonite + litter renewal (BENT + REN), and (4) neither bentonite treatments nor litter renewal (CTRL). The concentrations of gaseous pollutants and of airborne microorganisms and dust in the experimental rooms were measured twice weekly. Ewe milk yield was recorded daily. Individual milk samples were analyzed weekly for milk composition, coagulating properties, somatic cell concentration (SCC), and for bacteriological characteristics. The CTRL treatment resulted in higher concentrations of total and respirable dusts (P < 0.001) than the three other treatments as well as in greater amounts of total microorganisms (P < 0.01) and of yeast/moulds than the BENT and the BENT + REN treatments (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). The CTRL ewes also gave lower yields of milk (P < 0.01) and of protein and fat (P < 0.001) than those of the three other groups. Litter management affected the hygienic quality of milk, CTRL ewes having higher somatic cell (P < 0.01), and mesophilic and total coliform counts (P < 0.001) in their milk than those of the three other groups, and greater amounts (P < 0.05) of psychrotrophs and fecal coliforms than the BENT + REN animals. Our results suggest that litter management is critical for improving air quality in sheep houses and for optimizing the yield and the hygienic quality of ewe milk. Both litter renewal and treatment with bentonite may be effective in reducing air pollution and in sustaining ewe performance; however, the association of these procedures does not lead to further improvements of air and milk quality. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
On printability, quality and nutritional properties of 3D printed cereal based snacks enriched with edible insects
No full text3D printing technology was employed to obtain snacks with a designed cylindrical geometry from wheat flour dough enriched by ground larvae of Yellow mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) as novel source of proteins. The main microstructural features, overall quality, and nutritional attributes were studied as a function of formulation, time and temperature of baking. The addition of ground insects up to 20 g/100 g (d.b.) resulted in softer dough. This caused an overflow in dough deposition producing the increase in diameter, height and weight of snacks. Baking conditions did not alter the overall aspect of the snacks, but modification of the main dimensional and microstructure attributes were observed due to the better water evaporation. The optimization of baking conditions found that 22 min and 200 °C allowed obtaining a maximum desirability of 0.693. Baked in these conditions, the printed snacks enriched with 10 and 20% of ground insects significantly increased the total essential amino acid, from 32.5 (0% insects) to 38.2 and 41.3 g/100 g protein, respectively. The protein digestibility corrected amino acid score increased from 41.6 to 65.2 from 0 to 20% insect enrichment, with lysine and methionine + cysteine being the respective limiting amino acid. Our results evidenced the rational promotion of insects based on nutritional arguments and validated the use of 3D printing as technology to manufacture innovative printed snacks without adverse impact on technological quality
Effect of different ventilation regimens on ewes' milk and Canestrato Pugliese cheese quality in summer
No full textThe influence of three different ventilation regimens on air pollution in sheep houses and on the quality of ewe milk and of Canestrato, Pugliese cheese was investigated during the summer season. The experimental treatments were low ventilation regimen (VR=35 m(3)/h per ewe) split in 30-min ventilation cycles (LOV-30); moderate ventilation regimen (VR=70 m(3)/h per ewe) split in 30-min ventilation cycles (MOV-30); moderate ventilation regimen (VR=70 m(3)/h per ewe) split in 60-min ventilation cycles (MOV-60). The LOV-30 milk had higher microbial load and bulk milk somatic cell count (BMSCC) and resulted in a weaker casein matrix in the curd compared with the MOV-30 and MOV-60 treatments. At 45 d of ripening, the LOV-30 cheeses had a lower casein content and higher non-casein nitrogen (NCN) and water-soluble nitrogen (WSN) contents than the MOV-30 and MOV-60 cheeses. Urea-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (urea-PAGE) of the pH 4(.)6-soluble N extract showed that the MOV-60 cheeses had fewer bands derived from casein (CN) hydrolysis than the LOV-30 or MOV-30 cheeses, despite its having exhibited the highest plasmin (PL) activity levels. Our results suggest that the ventilation regimen is critical in dairy sheep housing for optimizing the hygienic quality of ewe milk and the proteolytic processes occurring in Canestrato Pugliese cheese during ripening
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