Carcass characteristics and meat quality of broilers fed periwinkle flesh (Pachymelania aurita), palm kernel cake and oil‐based rations

The effect of supplementation of palm kernel oil in periwinkle flesh and palm kernel cake‐based diets on carcass characteristics and meat quality of broilers was evaluated. Birds were assigned to five dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. The first diet, which was the control, contained 20 mg kg^?1 fishmeal but it did not contain palm kernel cake and periwinkle flesh. The second diet contained 20 mg kg^?1 fishmeal, 250 mg kg^?1 palm kernel cake but no periwinkle flesh. The third diet contained 60 mg kg^?1 periwinkle flesh, 250 mg kg^?1 palm kernel cake and no fishmeal. Present in the fourth diet were 250 mg kg^?1 palm kernel cake, 30 mg kg^?1 periwinkle flesh, no fishmeal and 20 mg kg^?1 palm kernel oil. Similarly, the fifth diet contained 250 mg kg^?1 palm kernel cake, 30 mg kg^?1 periwinkle flesh, no fishmeal and 40 mg kg^?1 palm kernel oil. Carcass measures and cuts were significantly influenced (P < 0.05) by dietary treatments. Diets 2, 3 and 5 gave significantly higher plucked dressed weights, total edible meat and total bone weights, respectively. Also carcass cuts were significantly increased (P < 0.05) in birds on periwinkle and palm kernel oil diets, with abdominal fat being highest in diet 5 having 40 mg kg^?1 palm kernel oil. However, proximate composition, physical and sensory properties were not significantly (P < 0.05) influenced by dietary treatment. Results showed that carcass characteristics improved as compared to the control group. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effects of dietary supplementation of cysteamine on growth performance,carcass quality,serum hormones and gastric ulcer in finishing pigs

A study was conducted to determine the effects of graded levels of dietary inclusion of a cysteamine (Cs) preparation on growth performance, carcass quality, plasma hormone levels, gastric pH and occurrence of gastric ulcer in finishing pigs. A total of 384 Landrace × Large White finishing pigs, (192 gilts and 192 barrows) with an average initial body weight of 66.05 ± 0.623 kg (mean ± SEM) were randomly divided into 24 floor pens, with eight gilts and eight barrows in each pen (9.2 m²) as one experimental unit. The 24 pens of pigs were randomly allocated to one of three diets: (1) a maize/soybean meal basal diet; (2) the basal diet plus 30 mg Cs kg^?1 diet; and (3) the basal diet plus 50 mg Cs kg^?1 diet. Dietary supplementation of Cs had quadratic effects (P < 0.01) on final body weight and average daily gain, with optimal responses occurring at 30 mg kg^?1. Dietary supplementation of Cs quadratically improved (P < 0.01) average daily feed intake and feed/gain ratio, with optimal responses occurring at 30 mg kg^?1. Dietary supplementation of Cs had a quadratic effect (P < 0.01) on muscle RNA/DNA ratio. Furthermore, dietary supplementation of Cs reduced (P < 0.05) back‐fat thickness. Dietary supplementation of Cs had quadratic effects (P < 0.05) on plasma glucagon and T₃ hormone levels, with optimal responses occurring at 30 mg kg^?1, but had no effect (P > 0.05) on plasma growth hormone, insulin and T₄ levels. There were no apparent pathological changes seen in the stomach mucosa of pigs fed at 30 mg Cs kg^?1 compared with the control diet. It is concluded that a low dose of dietary inclusion of Cs at 30 mg kg^?1 can improve growth performance and carcass quality without adverse effects on the stomach in finishing pigs. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effects of dietary taurine on egg production,egg quality and cholesterol levels in Japanese quail

BACKGROUND: Taurine is a semi‐essential amino acid and has many biological properties. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of dietary supplementation with taurine on egg production, egg quality, and cholesterol level in serum and egg yolk of quails. A total of 108 quails aged 6 weeks were randomly allocated to three dietary treatments. Each treatment consisted of four replicates of nine quails. The diets were supplemented with 0, 100, and 500 mg kg^?1 of taurine for 8 weeks. RESULTS: Dietary 500 mg kg^?1 taurine significantly affected egg production rate and feed conversion ratio, but had no significant effects on body weight gain, feed consumption, or egg weight. Dietary taurine had no significant effect on egg quality parameters studied. Serum triglyceride concentration was reduced significantly with supplementation of taurine at 100 and 500 mg kg^?1. Egg yolk cholesterol content was reduced significantly, and the contents of serum taurine and egg yolk taurine were increased significantly with taurine supplementation at 500 mg kg^?1. CONCLUSION: Results of the present study indicated that adding 500 mg kg^?1 taurine reduced yolk cholesterol concentration and increased yolk taurine content without adverse effects on performance and egg quality of laying quails. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Influence of food withdrawal at various times preslaughter on carcass yield and meat quality in sheep

Castrated male crossbred lambs were fed a complete pelleted diet ad libitum for 4 weeks prior to slaughter at a liveweight of about 32 kg. Forty lambs were killed directly off feed and forty each after 24, 48 and 72 h from food withdrawal. They had access to water at all times. Fasting had a significant effect on the weights of all body components examined except the combined fleece and feet. Liveweight was lost slightly more rapidly over the initial 24 h after food withdrawal, and this was attributable mainly to a 20% decrease in the weight of the gut contents. The overall rate of liveweight loss between 0 and 72 h was 0.14% h^?1. The corresponding loss of carcass weight was 0.085% h^?1, some reduction in yield being evident by 24 h of fast although a significant effect was seen only after 48 h. Liver weight was lost most rapidly (0.69% h^?1) over the initial 24 h but continued to be lost throughout fasting. Associated with the initial decrease in liver weight was a rapid loss of glycogen to very low levels by 24 h after food withdrawal. Fasting also reduced muscle glycogen concentrations but had no large or consistent effects on ultimate pH, reflectance or water-holding capacity.     

The effect of adding cadmium and lead alone or in combination to the diet of pigs on their growth,carcase composition and reproduction

Limits for cadmium and lead concentrations in food animal products have been established independently, whereas these two toxic metals often co‐exist in polluted regions. Weaned pigs (60) were allocated to ten treatments: control; low (0.5 mg kg^?1), medium (1 mg kg^?1) or high cadmium (2.5 mg kg^?1) in feed; low (5 mg kg^?1) medium (10 mg kg^?1) or high (25 mg kg^?1) lead in feed; and low, medium and high cadmium plus lead in feed. Growth rates and concentrations of cadmium and lead in body tissues (kidney, liver, spleen, lungs, heart, testicle, ribs, hair and teeth) were measured after 137 days. There was a similar reduction in weight gain for pigs in the cadmium and lead treatments, compared with the control, and a greater reduction for the pigs in the cadmium plus lead treatments. The reduction increased with the level of metal included. There was an increase in cadmium concentration of all tissues and blood with increasing feed cadmium concentration, which was usually less when lead was also included in the feed. There was also an increase in tissue lead concentration with increasing dietary lead, and this was in most cases increased when cadmium was also included in the feed. The most sensitive tissues for cadmium and lead exposure were the kidney, liver, hair and teeth, and regression equations were developed for the accumulation rates in these tissues. Tissue and blood cadmium concentrations increased gradually with increasing dietary lead, whereas tissue lead concentration was not sensitive to dietary cadmium, except in the ribs and heart. In a second experiment, 10 sows were allocated to a control diet or the same diet but with a supplement of cadmium and lead. The birth weight of piglets was decreased by the supplement and their mortality increased. Lead accumulated most in the ovary and oviduct of the sows, and there were increases in the lead and, to a lesser extent, cadmium concentrations of tissues of the piglets from these sows. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Supplementary α‐tocopherol acetate in full‐fat rapeseed‐based diets for pigs: effect on performance,plasma enzymes and meat drip loss

Twenty‐four Large White × Landrace pigs were individually fed, from 50 to 90 kg live weight, either a control (CONT) diet containing palm oil or one of three diets based on full‐fat rapeseed (250 g kg⁻¹) (diets RD). The RD diets were supplemented with 0, 200 or 500 mg DL ‐α‐tocopherol acetate (ATA) kg⁻¹ diet (diets RD0, RD200 and RD500 respectively). Diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous and isocaloric. Daily live weight gain was significantly increased (p < 0.01) in pigs fed diet RD500. Plasma AT concentration was significantly increased by dietary supplementation with 200 mg ATA kg⁻¹ but showed no further significant increase by supplementation with 500 mg ATA kg⁻¹. At slaughter, after 45 days, carcass weights were increased for the RD500 group but dressing percentage was unaffected. ATA supplementation significantly reduced drip loss on days 4 and 5–7 in fresh muscle and on days 1 and 4 in frozen muscle. The concentrations of calcium, sodium and potassium in drip loss fluid collected on days 1 and 4 from fresh muscle were not significantly affected by treatment or by time of collection and did not suggest any change in the relative contribution of intra‐ and extracellular fluid to total drip loss. Plasma enzyme activities related to tissue damage (creatine kinase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase) were not influenced by dietary treatments. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effects of enzymes in diets with varying energy levels on growth and egg production performance of Japanese quail

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of feed‐grade enzyme supplementation in diets with varying levels of energy on the performance of growing and laying Japanese quails. Day‐old Japanese quails, 504 in number, were subjected to six dietary treatments with six replicates at each treatment. Each replicate had 14 chicks. The dietary treatments consisted of three energy levels ie 12.15 MJ (2900 kcal), 11.30 MJ (2700 kcal) and 10.48 MJ (2500 kcal) ME kg^?1 diet and two enzyme levels (0 and 0.5 g kg^?1 diet). A metabolism trial was conducted at the fourth week of age. At the end of week 5, 10 quails (five of each sex) per treatment were sacrificed for carcass characteristics and 20 female quails from each of the six dietary groups were housed in individual laying cages and fed respective layer diet to study the laying performance and egg quality up to 20 weeks of age. Body weight gains of quails fed 12.15 MJ or 11.30 MJ ME kg^?1 diets were significantly higher (p < 0.01) than those fed diets with 10.46 MJ ME kg^?1 diet. Feed intake was significantly lower (p < 0.01) in birds that received diet with 12.15 MJ ME kg^?1 than in birds that diets containing either 11.30 or 10.46 MJ ME kg^?1 diet. Feed conversion ratio (p < 0.01) was best at 12.15, followed by 11.30 and 10.46 MJ ME kg^?1 diet. Enzyme supplementation did not improve the growth performance, feed intake or feed conversion efficiency of quails. Enzyme addition also did not influence nitrogen retention or energy or dry matter metabolizability. The carcass characteristics did not differ because of energy or enzyme supplementation. Feed intake increased significantly (p < 0.01) as the dietary energy level decreased. The egg production and quality characteristics remained almost similar in all the dietary treatments. It was concluded that the optimum dietary energy level for quail was 12.15 MJ (2900 kcal) ME kg^?1 during the growing phase and 11.30 MJ (2700 kcal) ME kg^?1 during the laying phase. Addition of feed enzymes to conventional diets containing varying levels of maize, soyabean meal, fish meal and deoiled rice bran was not beneficial to improve growth, carcass traits, egg production performance or nutrient utilization. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effects of genotype, level of supplementation, and organic chromium on growth performance, carcass, and meat traits grazing lambs

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of Suffolk×Dorper (SD) and Rambouillet (R) lamb genotypes, dietary supplementation, and organic chromium on growth performance, carcass, and meat traits in male lambs grazing ryegrass pasture. SD lambs had heavier cold carcass (HCW) and better carcass yield (CY) and rib eye area at 12th rib (RA) than R lambs; R had larger legs. Feed supplement increased average daily weight gain (ADG), slaughter live weight (SLW), hot carcass weight (HCW) and cold carcass weight (CCW), carcass yield, carcass length (CL), leg perimeter (LP), major thorax width (MTW), minor thorax width (MiTW), rib eye area and dorsal fat at 12th rib (DF12), and also decreased meat moisture. Organic chromium reduced dorsal fat at 12th rib and meat fat content.     

Responses of broilers fed guineacorn/palm kernel meal based ration to supplemental biotin

Seven duplicate floor pens with 20 day-old commercial broiler chicks each were fed a practical type broiler diet formulated with guineacorn/palm kernel meal and supplemented with graded levels of biotin (0.00, 0.04, 0.08, 0.12, 0.16, 0.20 and 0.24 mg kg^?1 feed) for a period of 6 weeks. Significantly poorer feed utilisation and carcass characteristics, higher blood lipid, lower blood glucose, lower pyruvate carboxylase activity in the liver, higher liver and kidney weights (% live weight), more lipid deposition in these organs coupled with more frequent incidences of foot dermatitis, higher mortality due to fatty liver and kidney syndrome (FLKS) and abnormal development of leg bone in broilers maintained on the diet without biotin supplementation indicated that they suffered vitamin deficiency. However, the responses of experimental birds indicated that a dietary supplement of 0.20 mg biotin kg^?1 feed was adequate for the promotion of good performance and prevention of dermal lesions, FLKS mortality and leg deformities.     

Growth, yield of carcass and biochemical composition of meat and fat in nutria (Myocastor coypus) reared in an intensive production system

Growth, carcass yield and proximate composition were determined in intensively reared nutria (Myocastor coypus) fed different levels of protein. Growth, food intake and food utilization efficiency were not significantly affected, within the same sex, in animals receiving 16%, 19% or 22% of protein in the diet. Males consumed the same amount of food as females but had greater live and carcass weights at slaughter age than females. Males had the highest meat yield and females had the highest fat content. Independent of dietary protein level, the pectoral muscles of all animals ranged from 19.2% to 23.6% protein, 1.97% to 2.47% total lipids, and 70.1 to 72.0mg of cholesterol in 100g of tissue. In the thigh muscles, the observed ranges were between 21.4% and 22.9% in proteins, 1.83% and 2.07 in total lipids and 69.9 and 71.0mg of cholesterol in 100g of tissue. The determination of classes of lipids shows more phospholipids contents in animals receiving 16% of protein in diet.     

The nutritional value of dried cassava root meal in broiler diets

In each of two experiments, 600 male broiler chicks (Ross 1) were randomised into 24 groups each containing 25 birds. From the age of seven days they were given one of six experimental diets. These were a control diet having ground wheat as the main cereal source and five other diets in which mainly the wheat was replaced by increasing amounts (100, 200, 300, 400, 500 g kg^?1 diet) of dried cassava root meal. Neither body weight nor food intake were significantly affected in either experiment by the inclusion of dried cassava root meal at levels up to 500 g kg^?1. Food conversion efficiency was unaffected by dietary treatment except in experiment 1 after 4 weeks, when the diet with 100 g cassava meal kg^?1 resulted in a better food conversion efficiency than in the case of the other dietary treatments. The carcass and abdominal fat weights and the chemical composition of the carcasses were unaffected by dietary treatment. In the caecal contents the proportion of acetic acid was increased and that of propionic and valeric acids reduced by the inclusion of dried cassava root meal. The moisture content of the litter was not significantly affected by the presence of cassava root meal although the litter became wet and sticky in the groups given the two highest levels of cassava root meal in Experiment 1. For this reason, the maximum recommended level of inclusion of dried cassava root meal in broiler diets is 30%.     

The replacement value of triticale for barley in layer diets with or without rice pollard

In a factorial experiment, the laying performance of White Leghorn hens given diets in which triticale replaced 100, 50 or 0% of barley either in the presence or absence of 210 g kg^?1 rice pollard and with two levels (2.5 and 3.5 g kg^?1) of methionine was examined. The replacement of barley with triticale had no significant effect on egg production, egg weight or feed conversion efficiency. The inclusion of 210 g kg^?1 rice pollard increased the weight (P < 0.01) and reduced the yolk colour (P<0.01) of eggs. Neither triticale nor barley had a significant effect on liver weight and lipid content. Triticale increased the palmitoleic acid content but had no significant effect on the content of other fatty acids in the liver and yolk lipids. Rice pollard increased the concentration of linoleic and arachidonic acids in liver and yolk lipids while the concentrations of myristic, palmitoleic and oleic acids were decreased. Increasing the level of methionine from 2.5 to 3.5 g kg^?1 in diets with either triticale or barley or rice pollard had no significant effect on any of the egg production characteristics.     

Manipulation of the fatty acid composition of pig meat lipids by dietary means

Pigmeat products have been associated with an unhealthy image due to the relative proportions of polyunsaturated and saturated fatty acids. The aim of this experiment was to improve the fatty acid profile of the carcass fat by feeding various dietary sources of fat. Groups of 10 female Large While × Landrace pigs were fed one of four experimental diets. Five in each group were slaughtered at 70 kg live weight and the remaining five at 100 kg live weight. The diets were offered ad libitum and daily intake was recorded. The diets were based on barley, soya bean meal and fishmeal. Diet 1 contained 50 g tallow kg^?1, a relatively saturated fat, and diets 2, 3 and 4 contained 50 g soya oil kg^?1, an unsaturated fat. Diet 3 also contained 7.5 g GLA oil kg^?1, which is rich in gamma linolenic acid, with the aim of increasing the production of arachidonic acid in the body fat. Diet 4 was supplemented with 9.5 g EPAnoil kg^?1, which is rich in eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. There were no significant differences between dietary treatments in performance (daily liveweight gain or the efficiency of food conversion to liveweight gain) of the pigs slaughtered at 70 kg live weight, but small differences were observed at 100 kg live weight, where pigs on treatments 2, 3 and 4 performed slightly better than those on treatment 1. At both slaughter weights the lipid content of the m semitendinosus was higher than that of the m longissimus dorsi (approximately 24 and 13 g kg^?1, respectively). The pattern of fatty acids in the dietary fat was reflected to varying degrees in the carcass fat. Diet 1 resulted in the highest levels of palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic and oleic acids whereas diets 2, 3 and 4 gave high levels of linoleic and linolenic acids. The extra gamma linolenic acid in diet 3 did not result in a consistently significant increase in the production of arachidonic acid. The supplement of EPAnoil gave significant increases in the levels of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids in the body lipids. The polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio of the body lipid was increased with diets 2, 3 and 4 to about 1.0. In spite of high levels of linoleic acid, there were no adverse effects during the processing of the carcasses and the taste panel evaluation did not reveal any treatment differences.     

Responses of young chicks to amino acid supplementation of methanol-grown dried microbial cells

Two experiments have been conducted to examine the effects on chick growth and carcass composition of amino acid additions to diets containing spray-dried or flash-dried forms of methanol-grown microbial cells (S-DMC and F-DMC respectively). The spray-dried form was an early development product. An additional factor was the level of total nitrogen (N) in control diets containing soyabean (SBM) and in experimental diets containing 100 g S-DMC or 150 g F-DMC kg^?1 diet. In the first experiment, a diet containing S-DMC supported less growth than the control SBM diet containing equivalent concentrations of total N (39 g kg^?1 DM) and of the sulphur containing amino acids. Supplementation of S-DMC diets containing 36 and 32 g N kg^?1 DM with methionine had no substantial effect on growth or on carcass composition. In the second experiment, methionine supplemented SBM and F-DMC diets containing 43 g N kg^?1 DM elicited similar growth performance and efficiency of food conversion. However, the feeding of basal SBM and F-DMC diets containing sub-optimal concentrations of total N (35 and 36 g N kg^?1 DM respectively) resulted in inferior utilisation of the F-DMC diet, this effect being only partially alleviated by combined dietary supplements of arginine, lysine and methionine.     

The effect of oat hulls,added to the basal ration for pregnant sows,on reproductive performance,apparent digestibility,rate of passage and plasma parameters

Thirty-five Large White x Landrace sows were housed in individual stalls during gestation and were fed a standard diet (DE, 13.2 MJ kg^?1) supplemented with oat hulls (OH), such that the ratios of basal diet to OH were 1:0, 9:1, 7:3 or 1:1. Digestibility and balance measurements were made during 7-day periods beginning on days 45 and 90 of gestation. During a 3-week lactation all sows were fed a standard diet (calculated DE, 12.5 MJ kg^?1, CP, 152 g kg^?1). Increasing OH intake increased mean net maternal weight gains and P2 fat depths during pregnancy and tended to increase total litter weight at birth. Sow-milk solids content and litter weight gain during the 3-week suckling period also tended to increase (nonsignificant), following increasing OH supplementation during gestation. Increasing OH intake tended to increase VFA and reduce cholesterol concentration in blood plasma at 56 days of gestation. The time taken to consume the once-daily feed allowance increased and gastrointestinal transit time decreased as OH intake increased. The apparent digestibilities of the major nutrients were significantly depressed with increasing levels of OH in the diet but the total amounts of nutrients absorbed increased. The following values were calculated for OH by the difference method: apparent digestibility of DM, 0.31; apparent digestibility of ADF, 0.17; DE, 6.25 MJ kg^?1; ME 6.01 MJ kg^?1.     

Carcass traits and meat quality of male lambs fed monensin or lasalocid

Male lambs, crossbred Merino × Ille de France, were fed a diet supplemented with 31 mg monensin or 32 mg lasalocid per kg of feed dry matter from an initial body weight of 23·6–23·9 kg to the slaughter weight of approximately 40 kg.

Carcass traits and meat quality were evaluated after slaughter; the values obtained were compared with those of the control group fed the same diet without the ionophore supplement.

There were few significant differences among the individual groups in carcass value, sensoric and technological properties of meat and of its composition. However, the lasalocid-fed group seemed to be somewhat better in muscling and in the composition of meat.     

Dietary cadmium intake by the Belgian adult population

The aim of this study was to estimate the dietary cadmium (Cd) intake of the Belgian adult population, to compare this dietary Cd exposure to the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) recently established by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and to determine the major food groups that contribute to dietary Cd exposure in Belgium. Food consumption data were derived from the 2004 Belgian food consumption survey (two 24?h recalls, 3083 participants). Cadmium concentrations in food items (n?=?4000) were gathered from the control program of the Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain for the period 2006–2008. Dietary intake per individual was calculated from consumption data and median Cd concentrations. The population mean, median and 95th percentile of the dietary intake values were 0.98, 0.85 and 2.02?µg?kg^?1 body weight per week respectively. Two percent of the Belgian adult population has a dietary Cd intake above the recent TWI of 2.5?µg?kg^?1 body weight established by EFSA in 2009. Cereal products and potatoes contribute for more than 60% to Cd intake.     

Performance of growing–fattening lambs fed whole cotton seed

Effects of diets containing increasing levels of whole cotton seed (WCS) on feed intake, liveweight gain, feed conversion, feeding margin and carcass characteristics were studied. Diets contained 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30% WCS and were fed ad libitum to growing lambs for 54 days. All diets were approximately isonitrogenous (163–186 g crude protein kg⁻¹ dry matter) and isocaloric (19–20 MJ gross energy kg⁻¹ of dry matter). During the first 28 days, four groups of 10 Karagouniko male lambs with initial liveweights of approximately 17·6 kg were fed diets containing 0, 5, 10 and 15% WCS and then, for the next 26 days, diets containing 0, 10, 20 and 30% WCS, respectively. Lambs fed the 15–30% WCS diet ingested about 20 mg kg liveweight⁻¹ day⁻¹ of free gossypol. At 54 days and liveweights of approximately 34·7 kg, five lambs from each treatment were slaughtered and carcass data were collected. There were significant differences in feed intake, liveweight gain, cooler shrink, rumen contents, intestinal fat and liver weight among the lambs fed these diets. Cooler shrink and intestinal fat, and perirenal fat and the combined weight of intestinal and perirenal fat, were significantly (P < 0·05) correlated. Pelleting of the WCS diets reduced the concentration of free gossypol in these diets. It was concluded that WCS was satisfactory as a feed ingredient for growing sheep and can be incorporated into ruminant diets as a source of energy and protein. No indication of gossypol toxicity was detected. © 1998 Society of Chemical Industry     

The effect of dietary energy and vitamin E administration on performance and intramuscular collagen properties of lambs

The effect of different dietary energy levels, with or without injections of vitamin E, on growth, carcass traits and intramuscular collagen (IMC) characteristics of growing lambs was studied. Twenty-four Ile de France ram lambs were evaluated in a 2×2 factorial design involving different DL-α-tocopheryl acetate injections (C, control=0 and V=150IU/wk, i.m. for eight wk) and energy level (N, normal=7.61 and L, low=6.47MJ/kg DM). Growth and slaughter performance, and IMC characteristics were not influenced by diet. DL-α-tocopheryl acetate increased ADG during suckling, while it did not affect live weight, carcass weight and dressing percentage. Vitamin E injections reduced carcass shrinkage but also had a negative effect on pelvic limb percentage. The Longissimus muscle pH values were higher in V than in C lambs. DL-α-tocopheryl acetate reduced IMC maturity and muscle hydroxylysylpyridinoline crosslink concentration, more markedly in lambs fed low energy diets.     

Influence of organic selenium supplementation on the accumulation of toxic and essential trace elements involved in the antioxidant system of chicken

The aim of the study was to investigate the interactions between selenium (Se) and various trace elements, both toxic and essential, involved in the antioxidant system. A total of 128?day-old chicks (Gallus gallus, broilers) were used to investigate the effect of Se yeast supplementation on the accumulation of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn). There were four replicates of four dietary treatments: T1 (basal diet with no added Se, analyzed to contain 0.21?mg?kg^?1), T2 (T1 with 0.15?mg?kg^?1 Se added), T3 (T1 with 0.3?mg?kg^?1 Se) and T4 (T1 with 3.0?mg?kg^?1 Se). At week 4 and 6, two chickens per replicate pen were sacrificed for whole blood, breast muscle and liver sampling. Samples were analyzed by ICP–MS. Supplementation with Se-yeast, not only increased Se concentration but also reduced Cd concentration in the tissues. Selenium was negatively correlated with Cd and positively correlated with Zn, Cu and Fe. Cadmium was negatively correlated with Zn and Cu. Zinc was positively correlated with Cu. Iron was negatively correlated with Cu and uncorrelated with Zn and Cd. The balance between Se, Cu, Fe and Zn is important for proper antioxidant defense since they are an integral part of various antioxidant enzymes.