Effect of dietary Lippia citriodora extract onproductive performance and meat qualityparameters in hares ( Lepus europaeus Pall. )

Abstract. Three different dietary doses of Lippia citriodora natural extract were tested in order to verify their effect on productive performance and the meat quality of intensively-reared hare (Lepus europaeus Pall.). The 240 day-trial was conducted on 20 male hares, divided into 4 homogeneous groups of 5 animals each. A control group received a basal diet without any supplementation, and the other three experimental groups received a natural extract of Lippia citriodora, titrated in verbascoside, in the following amounts: 1 g, 1.5 g and 2 g of natural extract/kg feed in the low (LNE), medium (MNE), and high natural extract (HNE) groups, respectively. Natural extract enhanced the quality of the meat: there was a significant decrease (P<0.05) in saturated fatty acids and a significant increase (P<0.05) in mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids. The oxidative stability of the meat improved, thus highlighting a possible link between the decrease (P<0.05) in TBARS values and an increase (P<0.05) in lipid vitamin content. The cholesterol content of the meat decreased markedly (P<0.01) after the dietary verbascoside treatment, thus improving the health benefits of the meat. These results clearly show the important role of Lippia citriodora extract, titrated in verbascoside, in improving the quality of the meat of intensively-reared hares. In addition the present paper underlines how the use of natural antioxidant in the animal feeding system may provide healthier and low-oxidized products to the final consumer

Feeding broiler chickens with grape seed and skin meals to enhance α-and γ-tocopherol content and meat oxidative stability

Grape seeds (GS) and grape skins (GK) are natural sources of polyphenols with featured antioxidant capacity. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of these polyphenol sources in diets formulated to contain the same total extractable grape polyphenol content on growth performance, protein and extractable polyphenol digestibility, plasma and meat α-and γ-tocopherol and thigh meat oxidation in broiler chickens. Five experimental diets were formulated: control, control + vitamin E (200 mg/kg), 30 g/kg GS diet, 110 g/kg GK diet, GS + GK diet (a mixture of 24.4 g/kg GS and 13.1 g/kg GK designed to simulate a reconstituted grape pomace). Feeding chickens with 110 g/kg GK reduced (p < 0.001) daily weight gain, worsened (p < 0.001) feed conver-sion ratio, increased (p <0.001) non-extractable polyphenol content in the ileum and in the excreta and decreased (p < 0.05) ileal protein digestibility. Regardless of the grape polyphenol source used, the inclusion of grape byproducts in the diets led to an increase of total extractable polyphenol con-tents in the ileum (p < 0.01) and the excreta (p < 0.001), which resulted (p < 0.001) in a decrease of extractable polyphenol digestibilities. Alpha-and gamma-tocopherol concentrations increased (p < 0.001) in plasma and in seven-day stored meat in birds fed the diet combining GS and GK with respect to the control group. As it happened with the vitamin E supplementation, feeding the combination of GS and GK also reduced (p < 0.001) the concentration of the lipid peroxidation marker (malondialdehyde) in the stored meat of chicken

Veterinary Public Health Activities and Management of the Livestock Sector during Earthquakes and Snowstorms in the Abruzzo Region—Italy, January 2017

In 2017 the Abruzzo region, located in central Italy, was struck by a sequence of four moderately powerful seismic events (5.0 magnitude on Richter scale), in addition to heavy snowfall that caused a state of emergency affecting the resident population and farm animals. A total of 282 stables were reported to have collapsed or been damaged and several animals (224 cows, 4025 ewes, 40,725 chickens, 22 horses and 3092 pigs) were killed. The Istituto Zooprofilattico of Abruzzo and Molise “G. Caporale” (IZSAM)—National Reference Center for Veterinary Urban Hygiene and Non-Epidemic Emergencies (IUVENE), played a crucial role in planning, coordinating and controlling veterinary activities during these catastrophic events. Operational and information tools were used to manage the needs of the communities involved, as well as to prioritize the veterinary interventions, record information, provide real-time data access, and produce reporting maps and Geographic Information System (GIS) layers. These events have highlighted how the integration of veterinary services into disaster management efforts can play an important role in protecting the health and welfare of animals, whilst also restoring economic activity and community life

Effect of dietary fermented and unfermented grape skin on broiler chickens

Trabajo presentado al 68th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP) celebrado en Tallinn (Estonia) del 28 de agosto al 1 de septiembre de 2017.Grape skin is a source of polyphenols with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Little information is available regarding its application in animal feeds. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of inclusion of fermented (FS) and unfermented (UFS) grape skin at different doses (30 g/kg, FS30 and UFS 30, and 60 g/kg, FS60 and UFS60) and of alfa-tocopheryl acetate (200 mg/kg) in broilers fed a corn-soybean diet. Growth performance, ileal protein digestibility, ileal and excreta content, digestibility of total polyphenols and tannins, thigh meat lipid oxidation (at 1 and 7 days of storage) and intestinal microflora in one hundred and fifty 21-day-old broiler chickens were determined. Growth performances were negatively affected by dietary FS60 and UFS60. Protein digestibility decreased in birds fed UFS60. The UFS supplementation increased ileal and excreta toatl polyphenols content; whereas ileal and excreta tannins content increased in all experiment groups. Birds fed UFS30 showed a higher value of polyphenols digestibility. Excreta digestibility of total polyphenols increased in birds fed FS and UFS compared to the control group, with higher value in birds fed UFS in comparison to those fed FS. Oxidative stability of thigh meat lipid oxidation. Intestinal microflora was not affected by dietary treatment. In conclusion, grape skin (at 60 g/kg) impaired chicken growth performance and protein digestibility. Total polyphenols content were more bioavailable in the large intestine tahn in the small intestine. The antioxidant potential of FS and UFS grape skin was not effective as vitamin E.Financial support from projects AGL2012-31355/GAN and MEDGAN (S2013/ABI-2913 MEDGAN-CM).Peer Reviewe

Addition of fermented and unfermented grape skin in broilers’ diets: effect on digestion, growth performance, intestinal microbiota and oxidative stability of meat

Grape skin is a source of polyphenols with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Little information is available regarding its application in animal feeding. The present study investigated the effect of inclusion of fermented (FS) and unfermented (UFS) grape skin at two different doses (30 g/kg, FS30 and UFS30, and 60 g/kg, FS60 and UFS60) and 200 mg/kg vitamin E (α-tocopheryl acetate) in a corn-soybean diet on growth performance, ileal protein digestibility, ileal and excreta total extractable polyphenols content and digestibility, intestinal microbiota and thigh meat oxidation in broiler chickens. Growth performance was depressed in chickens fed UFS and FS diets. A reduction in ileal protein digestibility was also observed in birds fed UFS, being this effect more pronounced in those fed 60 g/kg. The dietary inclusion of grape skin increased both ileal and excreta polyphenols contents, being higher in birds fed UFS than in those fed FS. Excreta moisture content increased in birds fed UFS and FS diets. No effect of dietary inclusion of grape skin was observed on ileal counts of lactic-acid bacteria and Clostridium, but UFS inclusion in the diet reduced ileal count of Escherichia coli as compared with FS dietary inclusion. After 7 days of refrigerated storage, values of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were lower in chicken meat when grape skin was added in the diet at 60 g/kg instead of 30 g/kg, and meat from birds fed 60 g/kg of grape skin reached TBARS values similar to those of birds supplemented with vitamin E. In conclusion, high doses of grape skin polyphenols depressed growth performance and protein digestibility, and increased excreta moisture content. Unfermented grape skin contained more polyphenols than FS, and its inclusion in the diet led to higher ileal and excreta polyphenols contents and to a lower ileal count of E. coli. Furthermore, the antioxidant potential of the polyphenols present in grape skin was observed after 7 days of meat storage, with the dose of 60 g/kg of grape skin being as effective as vitamin E supplementation in maintaining oxidative stability of meat.The authors wish to thank the Spanish Ministry of Economy (MINECO, Spain), Comunidad Autonoma de Madrid and Junta de Castilla y Leon for financial support of this investigation: projects AGL2012-31355/GAN, MEDGAN-CM S2013/ABI2913 and UCA304U13, respectively. The authors are also grateful to the MIUR and UNIMOL for the PhD fellowship of Maria Nardoia.Peer reviewe

Study on the Public Perception of “Community-Owned Dogs” in the Abruzzo Region, Central Italy

The Abruzzo Regional Law Nr. 47/2013, following a circular from the Italian Ministry of Health and OIE recommendations, allows the local municipalities to release free-roaming dogs (FRDs) caught on the territory once the local veterinary services (LVSs) have rated the dogs as unowned and not aggressive, have neutered them, as well as identified them through a microchip and a visible collar. The responsibility of these &ldquo;community-owned dogs&rdquo; (CODs) falls under the mayor of the local municipality that can entrust their custody to qualified people. The present study was conducted in the Abruzzo region, located in central Italy, to investigate public perception towards CODs, and in particular whether their presence is perceived as a problem or a benefit by the local communities. The data were collected by both direct interviews and an online survey, based on a questionnaire developed by a multidisciplinary team. The questionnaire was distributed in 31 municipalities sampled on the basis of the urbanization rate, and 497 people were interviewed over a 9-month period. More than half of the respondents (54%) stated that CODs can contribute to the control of stray dogs. The majority (83%) believed that a greater commitment is needed to involve the local communities on issues regarding CODs. The findings of this study highlighted the general difficulty for people to distinguish stray dogs from CODs that are not fully known, as evidenced by the fact that 59% of the respondents did not know the aforementioned Regional Law that defines and regulates the presence of the CODs

Effect of added grape seed and skin on chicken thigh patties during chilled storage

The effect of 2% grape seed and 2% grape skin powder added to chicken thigh patties stored at 4°C was assessed by measuring lipid oxidation, total phenolic content, pH, color changes and sensory attributes. The addition of these grape by-products to the patties lowered pH values and significantly reduced in lightness, redness and yellowness compared with the control. However, the addition of grape seed and skin significantly improved the oxidative stability of raw chicken patties due to higher total phenolic content, grape seed being more effective than skin in this regard. The phenolic content of these samples remained stable even after cooking. The acceptability of the chicken meat in general was not affected by the addition of grape by-products. These results show that grape seed and grape skin could potentially be used as natural antioxidants in raw chicken patties and would be accepted by consumers.The authors thank the MINECO, and CSIC for financial support of Projects AGL2012-31355/GAN and the Intramural 2014470E073. Also we are grateful the CAM and ESI Funds for the financial support the project MEDGAN-CM S2013/ABI2913). Thanks to the MIUR and UNIMOL for the PhD fellowship of Maria Nardoia.Peer Reviewe