Antioxidant role of hydroxytyrosol on oxidative stress in cadmium-intoxicated rats: different effect in spleen and testes.

Hydroxytyrosol (2-(3,4dihydroxyphenyl)ethanol, (DPE), a phenolic compound present in olive oil, is known to have antioxidant properties the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of DPE on oxidative stress induced by cadmium injections (CdCl2 2.5mg/kg body weight) in spleen and testes of adult male rats. Oxidative stress was evaluated by measuring lipid peroxidation by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) as well as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities in cytosol and mitochondria. We found that in spleen no TBARS formation was detected following CdCl2 injections; however, DPE induces decrease in TBARS level in treated and untreated rats. On the contrary, we observed that DPE showed no effect on cadmium-induced lipid peroxidation in testes. Cytosolic activities of SOD and CAT decreased significantly only in spleen, where DPE restores the values to the control levels. Noteworthy, mitochondrial activities of SOD and CAT were strongly reduced by cadmium treatment both in spleen and testes, and DPE was not be able to restore their activity. Overall, the results from this study indicated that the DPE has different antioxidant efficiency in spleen and testis of cadmium intoxicated rat

Evaluating productive performance, meat quality and oxidation products of Italian White breed rabbits under free-range and cage rearing system

Objective: Free-range systems have been increasingly available to the consumer due to increased demand for more sustainable meat-products. In the current study, the effect of free-range (FR) and cage system (CS) was explored on growth performance, meat quality and oxidation products in Italian White breed rabbits during the growing-fattening phase (5 to 13 weeks of age). Methods: Forty rabbits were randomly allotted to two treatment groups according to the rearing system, and each treatment group was replicated five times with four subjects in each replicate (20 rabbits per treatment-group). All rabbits fed the same diet as pelleted, and under FR system, no additional feeds were available to animals. Results: Rearing system had significant effect on rabbit growth performance, where CS group resulted in higher final body weight (P<0.045) and gain (P<0.029) and better feed efficiency (P<0.025) compared to FR rabbits. Most carcass traits were not affected by rearing system; however, a reduction of abdominal fat content (P < 0.015) and meat lipids (P<0.034) was observed in FR rabbits. Rearing system had no effects on meat fatty acid profile, whereas meat from FR rabbits resulted less susceptible to lipid and protein oxidation compared to caged animals. Conclusion: In overall, free-range system could be suggested as a substitute for conventional caged system because of free-range system preserved rabbit meat from oxidation

An assessment of sire-breed effects on carcass and meat quality traits of lambs at the ages of 40 and 100 days from Comisana ewes crossed with Suffolk or Bergamasca rams

The aim was to compare lambs at two different ages at slaughter (40 vs 100 days) and three breeds or crossbreeds including an Italian dairy breed (Comisana (Com)) and its crosses with the two meat breeds of Bergamasca (Ber × Com) and Suffolk (Suf × Com) with 20 male lambs per age per breed group. At both slaughter ages, crossbreeds were more productive, with higher liveweight (P = 0.02), carcass weight (P = 0.03) and dressing percentage (P = 0.04) than the Com group. Meat from the younger lambs showed lower C10:0, C14:0 and C22:0 (P < 0.05) and higher C18:1 (P < 0.01) concentrations, resulting in higher monounsaturated fatty acid (P < 0.01) and lower saturated fatty acid (P < 0.01) content. Moreover, their meat has lower redness (a*), yellowness (b*) and chroma (C*) values (P < 0.01). Crossbreeding dairy breed ewes with sires of high meat production breeds improves liveweight and carcass weight. Meat from younger lambs had lower intramuscular fat content and higher concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acid

Equid milk production: evaluation of Martina Franca jennies and IHDH mares by Wood's model application

The present work aims to evaluate milk production aptitude of two equid species: horse and donkey. The trial was conducted on the Italian Heavy Draught breed horse (IHDH) and on the Martina Franca breed donkey. Data were collected from 23 multiparous nursing IHDH mares aged from 6 to 10 years, with an average bodyweight (BW) (mean ± s.d.) of 822.3 ± 61.8 kg and from 28 multiparous nursing donkeys of Martina Franca breed aged from 7 to 12 years, with an average BW (mean ± s.d.) of 389.5 ± 21.2 kg. Milk yield was recorded on 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 105, 120, 135, 150, 165 and 180 days in milk (DIM). At each milk yield evaluation day, a milk sample was collected and its composition was analysed. All data were normalised according metabolic weight (MBW) of animals, so to make comparable results of the two considered species. Wood’s lactation model was used to describe milk, fat, protein and lactose yield. Peak lactation was reached on DIM 69 in IHDH horse and on DIM 48 in Martina Franca donkey with a milk production of 10.693 kg/100 kg MBW (R2 = 0.9139) and 5.264 kg/100 kg MBW (R2 = 0.9428), respectively. Persistency index of milk lactation curve was higher in Martina Franca donkey then in IHDH mares (7.0338 vs 6.2672). IHDH mares showed higher fat and protein production. Lactose curves showed a similar trend in both the species although IHDH’s curve was characterised by higher values. Data reported in the present work underline that both breeds considered are characterised by good milk production aptitude. Moreover, high R2 values obtained applying Wood’s model to milk, fat, protein and lactose production, calculated on the metabolic bodyweight basis, are indices of goodness of model fit

Is meat quality from Longissimus lumborum samples correlated with other cuts in horse meat?

The present work aims to investigate if the variation of each parameter in Longissimus lumborum muscle could correspond to the same or to a similar variation of the parameter in the other muscles. The work presents results of Pearson’s correlations between Longissimus lumborum samples and other muscle samples, such as Biceps femoris, Rectus femoris, Semimembranosus, Supraspinatus and Semitendinosus in horse meat. A total of 27 male IHDH (Italian Heavy Draught Horse) breed foals were employed. They were slaughtered at 11 months of age and the above-mentioned muscles were sampled. The Longissimus lumborum muscle showed to be representative of other muscles and of the whole carcass for some chemical parameters (moisture, protein and ash) and for some fatty acids profile patterns such as C12:0, C14:0, total monounsaturated fatty acid and polyunsaturated fatty acid, but poor correlations were recorded for intramuscular fat concentration, rheological and colorimetric parameters. Although almost all the qualitative parameters in meat are affected by the anatomical site and by the muscle, the Longissimus lumborum is often not representative in horse meat with regard to modifications of this parameters