Effect of Quebracho tannin extract on soybean and linseed oil biohydrogenation by solid associated bacteria: an in vitro study

An in vitro trial was carried out to study the effects of Quebracho tannins extract (QE) on fatty acid profile of rumen solid adherent bac- teria (SAB) during the fermentation of diets supplemented with soybean or linseed oil, as sources of linoleic (LA; 18:2 n-6) and α- linolenic acid (α-LNA; 18:3 n-3), respectively. Two control diets were prepared using a basal mixture of grass hay [760 g/kg on dry matter (DM)], soybean meal (55 g/kg DM), barley meal (130 g/kg DM), vitamin mineral premix (20 g/kg DM) and 35 g/kg DM of soybean (SOC diet) or linseed oil (LOC diet) as lipid supple- ment. Other two diets (SOCT and LOCT) were obtained by integrating SOC and LOC with QE (49 g/kg DM). The results confirmed that Quebracho tannins may be an effective method for reducing in SAB the biohydrogena- tion of LA (17.3 vs 34.5 g/100 g of fatty acid in SOC and SOCT, respectively) and LNA (10.7 vs 21.4 g/100 g of fatty acid in LOC and LOCT, respectively), but not for increasing the rumen accumulation of cis9, trans11 18:2 (0.77 vs 0.32 g/100 g of fatty acid in SOC and SOCT, respec- tively; 0.51 vs 0.43 g/100 g of fatty acid in LOC and LOCT, respectively) and trans11 18:1 (6.15 vs 3.64 g/100 g of fatty acid in SOC and SOCT, respectively; 5.53 vs 4.47 g/100 g of fatty acid in LOC and LOCT, respectively)

. Nutritional characteristics and quality of eggs from laying hens fed on a diet supplemented with chestnut tannin extract (Castanea sativa Miller)

1. The trial was performed with 80 laying hens belonging to two Tuscan autochthonous breeds: 40 birds of the Mugellese breed (MU) and 40 of the White Leghorn breed (WL). 2. The animals were allotted to 4 groups of 20 hens each: two groups were fed on a commercial diet and worked as the control groups (MUC and WLC); the other two groups received the same diet, integrated with 2 g of chestnut tannin extract per kg of diet (MUT and WLT). 3. A sample of 70 eggs were randomly collected and analysed for cholesterol content, fatty acid profile, weight, thickness of shell and colour of yolk. 4. Physical parameters, including yolk colour, and indices of egg quality were not affected by the treatments. 5. The concentration of unsaturated fatty acids increased whereas cholesterol was significantly decreased: -17% in WLT and -9% in MUT. Dietary supplementation with chestnut tannin extract resulted in a modification of lipid composition, toward a more healthy quality of eggs

Butyric acid glycerides in the diet of broiler chickens: effects on gut histology and carcass composition

Aim of the study was to verify the effects of butyric acid glycerides, as a supplemental ingredient in the diet, on live performance of broiler chickens and on the morphology of their small intestine, since short chain fatty acids are known as selective protection factors against intestinal microbial parasites, potent growth promoters of the gut wall tissues, also in terms of immune modulation response. An experiment was carried out on 150 Ross 308 female chickens, allotted to 5 treatments, over a 35 d ays period: the control, with soybean oil as the energy supplement, and 4 treatments with increasing amounts (0.2, 0.35, 0.5, 1% mixed feed) of a mixture of butyric acid glycerides (mono-, di- and tri- glycerides). Treated animals showed a higher live weight at slaughtering (P<0.05) with a better feed conversion rate. The carcase characteristics were not influenced, but the small intestine wall resulted slightly modified with shorter villi, longer microvilli (P<0.01) and larger crypts depth in jejunum (P<0.01), only with lowest concentration of the supplement (0.2%). It is concluded that butyric acid glycerides are an efficient supplement to broilers' diets, deserving particular attention as a possible alternative to antimicrobial drugs, which have been banned in Europe

Lipid metabolism in the rumen: new insights on lipolysis and biohydrogenation with an emphasis on the role of endogenous plant factors

Diet composition is the major factor influencing the fatty acid composition of meat and milk from ruminants because the fatty acids (FA) which reach the duodenum are, at least in part, of dietary origin as well as the result of rumen microbial biohydrogenation (BH) of dietary lipids. In this review, effects of synthesis of conjugated linoleic (CLA) and linolenic (CLNA) acid isomers in the rumen, effects of the lipids in herbage, and plant endogenous factors on synthesis of nutraceutical fatty acids are discussed. Discovery of beneficial FA in ruminant products, such as CLA and other ω-3 FA, stimulated many studies in the last 20 years, including those on the roles of minor FA intermediates on rumen BH and mammary gland metabolism. Much of this research was targeted at identifying the intermediates formed during BH as well as the rumen microbial ecology involved in these processes. However, shifting the research to feedstuff endogenous factors which influence lipolysis (LP) and losses of polyunsaturated FA in the rumen may be of interest in identifying nutritional strategies to manipulate FA profiles in ruminant products. The presence of FA with healthful properties in milk or meat from ruminants can be enhanced by inclusion of fresh forages in their diet. Hence, there is increasing interest in the crucial role of endogenous LP, plant secondary metabolites (PSM) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) on ruminal BH. To better understand the pathways through which PSM or PPO impact FA metabolism, characterization of lipids in fresh forages suggests the important role of the diet matrix on the ruminal fate of lipids. A critical discussion of the role of odd chain branched FA (OBCFA) is also reported, including potential impacts on rumen microbial metabolism. Finally, new insights into lipid metabolism from in vitro techniques are discussed

A Dual Process Architecture for Ontology-Based Systems

none5In this work we present an ontology-based system equipped with a hybrid architecture for the representation of conceptual information. The proposed system aims at extending the representational and reasoning capabilities of classical ontology-based systems towards more realistic and cognitively grounded scenarios, such as those envisioned by the prototype theory. The resulting system attempts to reconcile the heterogeneous approach to the concepts in Cognitive Science and the dual process theories of reasoning and rationality. The system has been experimentally assessed in a conceptual categorization task where common sense linguistic descriptions were given in input, and the corresponding target concepts had to be identified. The results show that the proposed solution substantially improves on the representational and reasoning “conceptual” capabilities of standard ontology-based systemsLieto, Antonio; Minieri, Andrea; Piana, Alberto; Radicioni, Daniele P.; Frixione, MarcelloLieto, Antonio; Minieri, Andrea; Piana, Alberto; Radicioni, Daniele P.; Frixione, Marcell

Butyric acid glycerides in the diet of broiler chickens: effects on gut histology and carcass composition

Aim of the study was to verify the effects of butyric acid glycerides, as a supplemental ingredient in the diet, on live performance of broiler chickens and on the morphology of their small intestine, since short chain fatty acids are known as selective protection factors against intestinal microbial parasites, potent growth promoters of the gut wall tissues, also in terms of immune modulation response. An experiment was carried out on 150 Ross 308 female chickens, allotted to 5 treatments, over a 35 d ays period: the control, with soybean oil as the energy supplement, and 4 treatments with increasing amounts (0.2, 0.35, 0.5, 1% mixed feed) of a mixture of butyric acid glycerides (mono-, di- and tri- glycerides). Treated animals showed a higher live weight at slaughtering (P<0.05) with a better feed conversion rate. The carcase characteristics were not influenced, but the small intestine wall resulted slightly modified with shorter villi, longer microvilli (P<0.01) and larger crypts depth in jejunum (P<0.01), only with lowest concentration of the supplement (0.2%). It is concluded that butyric acid glycerides are an efficient supplement to broilers&rsquo; diets, deserving particular attention as a possible alternative to antimicrobial drugs, which have been banned in Europe

Chestnut or quebracho tannins in the diet of grazing ewes supplemented with soybean oil: Effects on animal performances, blood parameters and fatty acid composition of plasma and milk lipids

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of chestnut or quebracho tannin extracts in the diet of grazing ewes supplemented with soybean oil, on the blood plasma and milk fatty acid profile, milk quality traits and animal metabolic profile. Eighteen Comisana ewes at 172 ± 6 days in milking were allotted into 3 experimental groups. Diets were characterized by pasture ad libitum administered and by 800 g/head and day of 3 experimental concentrates containing 84.5 g of soybean oil/kg of DM and 52.8 g/kg DM of bentonite (Control diet) or 52.8 g/kg DM of chestnut tannin extract (hydrolysable tannins, CHE diet) or 52.8 g/kg DM of quebracho tannin extract (condensed tannins, QUE diet). The trial lasted 4 weeks after 15 days of adaptation to the feeding regimen. Milk yield was daily recorded while milk composition and blood parameters were weekly analysed. CHE and QUE did not affect the milk yield and composition. Casein Index was affected by diet and it was significant higher in milk from animals fed QUE (P < 0.0259). The clotting parameters with the exception of a30were affected by tannins: r was higher for QUE milk while k20increased regardless the kind of tannin. Blood parameters were not affected by tannins and the oxidative status of ewes, determined using MDA as indicator, did not present significant differences among groups, regardless the concentrates fed to animals. Fatty acid profile of blood plasma demonstrated that tannin extract, regardless the source, favored the accumulation of vaccenic acid (trans-11 18:1) reducing the hematic concentration of stearic acid (18:0). Only few significant differences in milk fatty acid profile were found. In particular, rumenic acid (cis-9, trans-11 18:2) increased when the concentrates contained polyphenols and the stronger effect is reached with QUE (P < 0.0002)

Identification of a new missense mutation in the mtDNA of hereditary hypertrophic, but not dilated cardiomyopathic hamsters

The cardiomyopathic hamster is characterized by a naturally occurring deletion in the delta-sarcoglycan gene generating either the hypertrophic or the dilatative phenotype of cardiomyopathy. This evidence suggests that other genetic or environmental factors might concur to the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathy. The aim of the present study was to investigate on the possibility that other genes are involved in the pathogenesis of hamster cardiomyopathy. For this purpose, a series of genes of cardiomyopathic and healthy hamsters were compared by the differential display technique. The hamster cytochrome c oxidase mitochondrial subunit III (COIII) gene has been sequenced and identified as the gene upregulated in brain and skeletal muscle. The gene sequencing and restriction analysis demonstrated that a missense mutation is present in the COIII gene of hamsters exhibiting hypertrophic cardiomyopathy while no mutations were present in dilatative cardiomyopathic hamsters. The mutation was heteroplasmic and the heteroplasmy level was increased with age in skeletal muscle and heart. The ultrastructural analysis of cardiac tissue showed severe damage in the mitochondrial structure of hypertrophic but not dilatative hamster hearts. These results suggest that the pathogenesis of the cardiac damage in hypertrophic cardiomyopathic hamster may be sustained by multiple mutations exerting a cumulative effect on both structure and function of cardiac muscle