Nutritive value of brewers’ grain and maize silage for fattening rabbits

[EN] Specific knowledge of the nutritive value of raw materials is fundamental to formulate balanced diets for rabbits and allows greater use of by-products and non-conventional feedstuffs. This paper examines the feeding value of sun-dried brewers’ grain and maize silage (whole plant) for fattening rabbits. Twenty-four individually caged 8-wk-old rabbits were used to determine the digestibility. Both wet products were sun-dried and ground before being incorporated into a basal diet. The inclusion level at the expense of all basal ingredients amounted to 30%. Basal diet and both experimental diets were fed ad libitum to 8 rabbits during the 4-d balance trial. The determined digestibility of protein, fat, crude fibre and neutral detergent fibre digestibility amounted to 76.2 and 77.2%; 86.5 and 99.1%; 8.1 and 8.3% and 28.0 and 13.5%, respectively, for brewers’ grain and maize silage. The digestible energy content amounted to 11.66 MJ/kg dry matter (DM) (brewers’ grain) and 11.10 MJ/kg DM (maize silage). Both by-products have potential as alternative feedstuff in rabbit diets. However, further experiments are necessary to determine the effect of ensilaging the whole maize plant, as a significantly lower (P<0.001) feed intake was observed.Guermah, H.; Maertens, L.; Berchiche, M. (2016). Nutritive value of brewers’ grain and maize silage for fattening rabbits. World Rabbit Science. 24(3):183-189. doi:10.4995/wrs.2016.4353.SWORD183189243Abreu J.M., Bruno-Soares A.M., Calouro F. 2000. Intake and nutritive value of Mediterranean forages and diets. Instituto. Superior de Agronomia.-UTL, Lisboa.AOAC. 2000. Official Methods of Analysis. 17th ed. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Arlington, VA, USA.Caraba-o R., Fraga M.J. 1992. The use of local feeds for rabbits. Options Méditerranéennes, Série Séminaires, 17: 141-158.Fernández-Carmona J., Blas E., Pascual J.J., Maertens L., Gidenne T., Xiccato G., & García. (2010). Recommendations and guidelines for applied nutrition experiments in rabbits. World Rabbit Science, 13(4). doi:10.4995/wrs.2005.516Gidenne, T. (2003). Fibres in rabbit feeding for digestive troubles prevention: respective role of low-digested and digestible fibre. Livestock Production Science, 81(2-3), 105-117. doi:10.1016/s0301-6226(02)00301-9Gaafar H.M.A., Abd El-Lateif A.I.A., Salwa Abd El-Hady B. 2010. Effect of replacement of berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) hay by berseem silage on performance of growing rabbits. Archiv. Zootech., 14: 59-69.Lui J.F., Andrade B.R.P., Oliveira M.C., Arantes U.M., Cancherini L.C., Caires D.R. 2004. Nutritive value of diets containing alfalfa hay and whole corn plant to growing rabbits. In Proc: 8th World Rabbit Congress. September 7-10, 2004, Puebla, Mexico, 897-901.Maertens L., Janssen W.M.M.A., Steenland E.M., Wolters D.F., Brame H.E.B., Jager F. 1990. Tables de composition, de digestibilité et de valeur énergétique des matières premières pour lapins. In: 5èmesJour. Rech. Cunicole, Paris. Dec. 12-13, Ed. ITAVI. 57:9.Michalet-Doreau B., Corneloup F., Aizac B., Andrieu J. 2004. Variabilité et facteurs de variation de la teneur en matières azotées des maïs récoltés en plantes entières. INRA Prod. Anim.17: 3-10.Nworgu F.C., Adebowale E.A., Oredein O.A., Oni A. 1999. Prospect and economics of broiler production using two plant protein sources. Tropic. J. Anim. Sci., 2: 159-166.Phipps R.H. 1996. A crop from over there that's doing rather well over here: forage maize in the diet of the lactating dairy cow. J. Roy. Agric. Soci. Engl. 157: 103-115.Reinold M.R. 1997. Manual practicio de cerveceria. Aden ED. Sao Pablo Brasil, p: 123.StatSoft. 2012. Statistica 11 release. StatSoft, Inc. Tulsa, OK, USA

Effect of diet supplementation with live yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae on growth performance, caecal ecosystem and health of growing rabbits

[EN] The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the live yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the growth performance, caecal ecosystem and overall health of growing rabbits. A control diet was formulated (crude protein: 15.9%; neutral detergent fibre: 31.6%) and another diet obtained by supplementing the control diet with 1 g of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (6.5×109 colony-forming units) per kg of diet. Ninety 35-d old rabbits were allotted into 3 groups: TT (rabbits offered the supplemented diet from 17 d of age onwards), CT (rabbits offered supplemented diet from 35 d) and CC (rabbits fed non-supplemented diet). Body weight (BW) and feed intake were measured weekly and mortality was controlled daily. At 35, 42 and 77 d of age, 6 rabbits from each group were slaughtered and digestive physiological traits, serum clinical chemistry parameters, fermentation traits, and the composition of caecal microbiota examined. At 42 and 56 d of age, 10 rabbits from each group were injected intraperitoneally with 100 μg/animal of ovalbumin and blood samples were collected for examination of plasma immunological parameters. Throughout the experiment (5-11 wk), weight gain and feed intake (37.8 and 112.6 g/d, on av.) were not affected by yeast, except for weight gain in the first week after weaning, which was the highest in TT animals among the 3 groups (48.1 vs. 43.9 and 44.2 g/d for TT, CC and CT, respectively; P=0.012). This may be due to the increased trend in feed intake (P=0.072) in the TT group (96.4 g/d) compared to the others. Mortality (5/90) was low and did not differ among the 3 groups. Treatments had no effect on slaughter traits at the 3 sampling dates (35, 42 and 77 d). Only the weight of the empty caecum (% BW) was higher (P=0.02) in CC (2.2%) and CT (2.3%) than in TT group (1.8%) at 77 d of age. Treatments did not overtly affect the caecal microbiota, although the number of total anaerobic bacteria and Bacteroides were lower (108 and 107/g caecal digesta, respectively) in rabbits from CC group compared to those of CT and TT groups at 42 d of age (P=0.03). No difference between groups was observed for caecal short chain fatty acids profile, blood traits, or IgG and cytokine profile. In conclusion, supplementation of feed with yeast did not modify growth traits and resulted in only a temporary increase in weight gain and a slightly altered caecal microbiota after weaning.Belhassen, T.; Bonai, A.; Gerencsér, Z.; Matics, Z.; Tuboly, T.; Bergaoui, R.; Kovacs, M. (2016). Effect of diet supplementation with live yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae on growth performance, caecal ecosystem and health of growing rabbits. World Rabbit Science. 24(3):191-200. doi:10.4995/wrs.2016.3991.SWORD19120024

Lycopene and Vascular Health

Lycopene is a lipophilic, unsaturated carotenoid, found in red-colored fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, watermelon, papaya, red grapefruits, and guava. The present work provides an up to date overview of mechanisms linking lycopene in the human diet and vascular changes, considering epidemiological data, clinical studies, and experimental data. Lycopene may improve vascular function and contributes to the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disorders. The main activity profile of lycopene includes antiatherosclerotic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, antiplatelet, anti-apoptotic, and protective endothelial effects, the ability to improve the metabolic profile, and reduce arterial stiffness. In this context, lycopene has been shown in numerous studies to exert a favorable effect in patients with subclinical atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease, stroke and several other cardiovascular disorders, although the obtained results are sometimes inconsistent, which warrants further studies focusing on its bioactivity

Lycopene and Vascular Health

Lycopene is a lipophilic, unsaturated carotenoid, found in red-colored fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, watermelon, papaya, red grapefruits, and guava. The present work provides an up to date overview of mechanisms linking lycopene in the human diet and vascular changes, considering epidemiological data, clinical studies, and experimental data. Lycopene may improve vascular function and contributes to the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disorders. The main activity profile of lycopene includes antiatherosclerotic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, antiplatelet, anti-apoptotic, and protective endothelial effects, the ability to improve the metabolic profile, and reduce arterial stiffness. In this context, lycopene has been shown in numerous studies to exert a favorable effect in patients with subclinical atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease, stroke and several other cardiovascular disorders, although the obtained results are sometimes inconsistent, which warrants further studies focusing on its bioactivity.© 2018 Mozos, Stoian, Caraba, Malainer, Horbańczuk and Atanaso