Nutrients content and in vitro digestibility of ex-food as feed ingredient for pig diets

Ex-food or Former Food Products (FFPs) represent a way by which losses from the food industry are converted into ingredients for the feed industry, thereby keeping food losses in the food chain. FFPs have been proposed as promising alternative feed ingredients. However, FFPs nutritional potential is not yet fully exploited. The aim of the present study was to perform a nutritional evaluation of selected FFPs. Six samples of mixed FFPs, all based on bakery products, were analysed for Dry matter (DM), Crude Protein (CP), Ether Extract (EE), Crude Fibre (CF), Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF), starch and ash. Nitrogen-Free Extractives (NFE) and Non-Structural Carbohydrate (NSC) were also calculated. Based on FFPs proximate analysis, Digestible Energy (DE) and Metabolizable Energy (ME) values for pigs were calculated. In vitro digestibility (IVD) of FFPs were evaluated using a multi-step enzymatic technique to predict the apparent total tract digestibility in pig. A wheat sample was included as control feed ingredient in the study. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 21 software (SPSS Inc.). In vitro digestibility values for FFPs samples were analysed using one-way analysis of variance in order to compare means. FFPs have shown a nutrient composition comparable to that of cereal grains. In the tested FFPs dry matter concentrations ranged from 912.8 g kg-1 to 937.6 g kg-1. The overall mean of CP content was 100 g kg-1 DM. Compared to wheat, FFPs were characterised by a relative high fat content (average EE 101.2 g kg-1 DM). The average starch content was 523.6 g kg-1 DM. Nitrogen-free extractives ranged from 611.7 g kg-1 DM to 746.8 g kg-1 DM, whereas NSC ranged from 585.4 g kg-1 DM to 792.7 g kg-1 DM. The relatively high NFE, NSC, starch and fat concentrations designated FFPs as valuable energy sources for pig. FFPs tested were characterized by valuable DE (17.2 MJ/kg) and ME (16.9 MJ/kg) values for pigs. However, DE and ME systems used may under/overestimate energy values due to the high lipid and starch content of FFPs. The average IVD value of FFPs samples (88.1 % \ub1 5.77) was comparable to IVD of wheat (90.6 % \ub1 1.62). In conclusion, FFPs can be considered a fat-fortified version of common cereals grains. The high-energy content and digestibility values elect FFPs as promising non-traditional ingredients for target animals as pig

Former food products safety: stereomicroscopy and computer vision for evaluation of packaging remnants contamination

Valorisation of former foodstuffs products (FFP) as feed ingredients is part of a long-term strategy for sustainability. Processing methods to convert FFP in to feed ingredients do not usually include packaging materials pre-removal. Feed processors routinely remove the packaging from surplus food mechanically. Although, the treatment in the plant removes most of the packaging, small amounts of wrapping materials can remain in the resulting feed. In this respect, the aim of this study was to investigate the safety features of selected FFP intended for animal nutrition produced from different confectionery products.In six FFP samples, both mash and pelleted, the presence of undesired ingredients which can be identified as remnants of packaging materials has been evaluated by two different methods. The first analysis has been done by stereomicroscopy, according to published methods, based on separation of every particle that is not native to the matrix by bare eye examination. In the second one, stereomicroscopy coupled with a computer vision system (IRIS Visual Analyzer VA400), has been tested in order to evaluate the presence/absence of packaging remnants in feed materials. Results obtained have been presented as percentage of packaging material in feed, expressed as w/w in the case of the stereomicroscopic method and as a colour spectrum representing the proportion of each colour on the FFP surface, within a fixed scale of 4096 colours, in the case of computer vision system (CVS). The visual pattern recorded for each sample with CVS was processed using Statistical Quality Control (SQC) model. The stereomicroscopy approach revealed that the contamination level was below to 0.08% (w/w), within the tolerance level established by BMELV. Of note, the packaging remnants were observed mainly from the 1-millimeter sieve mesh fractions. Computer vision system, through the SQC model, revealed the possibility to rapidly detect the presence of packaging remnants in FFPs when combined with stereo-microscope. Concluding, even though the validated method (RIKILT) remain the most assured for detection and quantification of packaging materials in FFPs, it results laborious and ineffective regarding the smallest packaging remnants. In comparison, the use of CVS coupled with stereomicroscopy has shown a big potential in a rapid qualitative analysis also in low contaminated ex-food and could be considered effective in defining further analysis or investigations in FFP

Preferential Binding to Elk-1 by SLE-Associated IL10 Risk Allele Upregulates IL10 Expression

Immunoregulatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10) is elevated in sera from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) correlating with disease activity. The established association of IL10 with SLE and other autoimmune diseases led us to fine map causal variant(s) and to explore underlying mechanisms. We assessed 19 tag SNPs, covering the IL10 gene cluster including IL19, IL20 and IL24, for association with SLE in 15,533 case and control subjects from four ancestries. The previously reported IL10 variant, rs3024505 located at 1 kb downstream of IL10, exhibited the strongest association signal and was confirmed for association with SLE in European American (EA) (P = 2.7×10-8, OR = 1.30), but not in non-EA ancestries. SNP imputation conducted in EA dataset identified three additional SLE-associated SNPs tagged by rs3024505 (rs3122605, rs3024493 and rs3024495 located at 9.2 kb upstream, intron 3 and 4 of IL10, respectively), and SLE-risk alleles of these SNPs were dose-dependently associated with elevated levels of IL10 mRNA in PBMCs and circulating IL-10 protein in SLE patients and controls. Using nuclear extracts of peripheral blood cells from SLE patients for electrophoretic mobility shift assays, we identified specific binding of transcription factor Elk-1 to oligodeoxynucleotides containing the risk (G) allele of rs3122605, suggesting rs3122605 as the most likely causal variant regulating IL10 expression. Elk-1 is known to be activated by phosphorylation and nuclear localization to induce transcription. Of interest, phosphorylated Elk-1 (p-Elk-1) detected only in nuclear extracts of SLE PBMCs appeared to increase with disease activity. Co-expression levels of p-Elk-1 and IL-10 were elevated in SLE T, B cells and monocytes, associated with increased disease activity in SLE B cells, and were best downregulated by ERK inhibitor. Taken together, our data suggest that preferential binding of activated Elk-1 to the IL10 rs3122605-G allele upregulates IL10 expression and confers increased risk for SLE in European Americans.</p