Meat quality of Maremmana young bulls

Maremmana is a local Italian breed reared in southern Tuscany and northern Latium. Twenty-two young bulls were reared in pasture system with concentrate supply (PSCS), whereas 20 young bulls were reared in feedlot intensive system (IS) in order test differences between meat typologies. The bulls were slaughtered at 18 months old. The performances at slaughtering were similar between finishing systems. IS bull meat has shown higher cooking loss than PSCS bull meat (p < 0.001), higher moisture content (p < 0.01), and fat (p < 0.001), and lower crude protein (p < 0.001). The SFA, MUFA and PUFA percentage were similar between meat typologies; whereas if considered in mg per 100 gr of muscle MUFA and SFA content was higher in PSCS meat (p < 0.05). Among the Healthy Indices, C18:2/C18:3 was higher in IS System (14.08 vs. 9.77; p < 0.001); the results of the PCA (Principal Component Analysis) of fatty acids composition showed that PSCS meat was characterized by MUFA and SFA, while IS meat was identified by C18:2/C18:3, and ω6/ ω3

Morphological characterization of Amiata donkey through Multivariate analyses

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the morphology and biometrics of female Amiata donkeys reared in four different areas of southern Tuscany, Italy, to determine the differentiation degree of animals. Four southern Tuscan areas were investigated: two mountainous zones (East and West Amiata) and two flatter areas (Coastal area and Siena surrounding). Morphology and biometrics of adult female Amiata donkeys were collected to determine the homogeneity of the population. Primitive coat markings typical of the breed (shoulder and leg stripes) were found in Amiata donkey. Jennets from Siena surrounding were more dolichomorphic, while West Amiata individuals were smaller. The Principal Component Analysis and the Discriminant Analysis separated the Siena surrounding jennets from the other populations. This result was confirmed through the heatmap representation. The biometrics found in this research confirm that Amiata donkey is a small-medium sized breed suitable for different purposes

preliminary studies on hoof characteristics in amiata donkey

In this work the biometrical, physical and chemical characteristics of Amiata donkey hoof were studied. The Amiata donkey is a local endangered breed and derives from the homonym mountain in Tuscany. This donkey, which was once used as pack animal in farms and in mines, is now involved in trekking, onotherapy and milk production. The mean hoof biometrics and its standard deviation were calculated. The physical and chemical characteristics were also estimated, through ANOVA, considering the hoof region as fixed effect: wall, white line and sole for hardness, wall and sole for chemical characteristics. The small size and healthy hoof, was basically cylindrical (crown cir./Foot plantar circ. ratio=0.9) and it showed higher hardness in wall (H=126.5± 3.3), followed by sole (H=105.2±3.3), and white line (H=74.0±3.3). The wall has shown the lower moisture content (%=11.7±3.2) and the higher content in Al, Mn, Li, Ni, Pb, Se. The positive correlation between Al, Li, Pb and Hardness has shown the hoof high resistence to toxic elements. Very interesting has seemed the negative correlation between K vs Li and Pb, to indicate the tendency of K to remove potentially harmful elements

Mixtures of mono-, di- and tri-glycerides as energy supplements to broilers' diets

Mixtures of mono-, di- and tri-glycerides from olive oil (MDT) were added to: palm oil (PO), olive oil (OO), soybean oil (SO), free fatty acids from palm oil (PFA), free fatty acids from olive oil (OFA). The compound mixtures were used as energy supplements in the diets of broiler chickens in comparison with plain SO and plain animal fat (AF). Two hundred and ten birds were randomly allotted to 7 dietary treatments with the diverse oil sources: 6 birds per cage, 5 cages per treatment. The effects of the treatments on growth rates, feed/gain ratios and acidic composition of abdominal fat of hybrid Ross 308 female chickens were studied. The animals were slaughtered at the end of the trial, at day 35. The breast meat quality was then evaluated by a panel of 15 trained members and analysed for shelf life duration. The AF treat- ment gave the highest weight gain, but only in the first week. MDT + OO (50/50) resulted the best combination, with slight, non significant, better performances and a decidedly better quality in terms of acidic composition of abdominal fat, taste and juiciness of breast meat and shelf life