Effect of the dam’s feeding regimen on the meat quality of light suckling lambs

In order to verify the effect of the introduction of concentrates without GMO risk and at low aflatoxin risk in the diet of grazing milk ewes on the quanti-qualitative production of meat of their milk-fed light lambs, two trials were carried out - in Sicily, on 32 Comisana lambs, slaughtered at 49±4 days (trial 1); and in Sardinia, on 28 Sarda lambs, slaughtered at 31±4 days(trial 2) - comparing the following grazing dams’ feeding regimes: High stocking rate + Organic (barley – tickbean or pea) Concentrate (HO); High stocking rate + Conventional (maize-soybean) Concentrate (HC); Low stocking rate + Organic Concentrate (LO); Low stocking rate + Conventional Concentrate (LC). Lamb performances, carcass quality, meat colour and lipid content were not modified by dam’s feeding regimen. However, significant differences were observed in the fatty acid (FA) composition of the intramuscular fat of the older suckling lambs of trial 1. The main variation concerned n-3 polyunsaturated FAs and conjugated linoleic acids

Biopolítica, biología, normatividad : la vida más allá del bien y del mal.

Este artículo desafía una tendencia extendida en el debate contemporáneo sobre biopolítica, que consiste en infundir un valor moral intrínseco y normativo en la nuda vida

Feeding finishing heavy pigs with corn silages: effects on backfat fatty acid composition and ham weight losses during seasoning

The effect of diets containing corn silages (whole ear or high cut whole plant corn silages, WECS and HCCS, respectively) on fatty acid composition of back fat and the weight loss of thighs during the seasoning process were examined in Italian heavy pigs (from 90 to 160 kg of live weight). Two trials were conducted in the same farm, following an identical experimental protocol. In both trials, a control diet, based on dry corn, barley, wheat, extracted soybean meal, wheat bran and supplement (47, 23, 10, 9, 8 and 3% dry matter (DM), respectively) was compared with a diet containing 30% DM of WECS (trial 1) or 20% DM of HCCS (trial 2) in substitution of bran and part of the corn. The initial fresh weight of thighs was very homogeneous between the two trials and only at the end of seasoning the hams from pigs fed the corn silage diets were slightly lighter (of about 0.5 kg, p < .05). The dietary inclusion of corn silages determined a significant increase of the saturated fraction of the back fat (from 40.6 to 41.9%, p < .05), mainly due to the increase of the C 18:0 fatty acid (from 14.3 to 15.2%, p < .05). Overall, the calculated iodine value was favourable for the fat of pigs fed silages (62.63 vs. 64.24, p = .05). In conclusion, feeding corn silages to heavy pigs has limited impact on seasoning ham losses and can slightly improve backfat quality, in terms of fatty acid composition

Siamo ‘macchine da sopravvivenza’? Breve riflessione sui fini e le norme di natura

Peer reviewe

Aflatoxin occurrence in goat milk and supplied concentrate feed in farms of Veneto, Trentino and Friuli Venezia Giulia

Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is a probable human hepatocarcinogen (IARC, monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to human. Vol. 56, 1993) found in milk of animals that consume feeds contaminated with aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), produced by fungi of genus Aspergillus. There is little information about goat milk: the aim of this study was to examine the level of contamination of milk, and related concentrate feed, in goat farms of Veneto, Trentino and Friuli Venezia Giulia. In 2005 and 2006, during the lactation period, 79 samples of total daily milk and 125 concentrate feed samples (principally maize and concentrate feeds), collected in 17 goat farms of Triveneto, were analysed for the content of AFM1 and AFB1 respectively, by HPLC technique. Concerning the milk samples, only one-third of total samples exceed the analytical reliability level (3 ppt), 14 of which were positioned under the value of 9 ppt and only 1 sample was over the value of 27 ppt.With regard to the feed samples, the two-thirds of total samples exceed the analytical reliability level (0.1 ppb), 54 of which had a value lower than 1 ppb and only 1 had a value higher than 10 ppb. The relation between levels of aflatoxin in milk and feeds was also considered: there is a significant correlation that confirms the role of feeds in the contamination of milk. All the samples had values lower than the maximum limit established by Italian law concerning the content of aflatoxins in milk for human diet and the content of aflatoxin in the concentrates for the goat diet (AFM1: 50 ppt; AFB1: 20 ppb), showing a general situation of absence of risk for animal and human health, with only few cases to keep under control. The results are in accordance with the situation found in other regions of North Italy (Regione Lombardia, 2003-2005), where, also in the dairy cow sector, there was a reduction of aflatoxin contamination risk in 2005 after two years of high levels of contamination of the maize and of the milk

Brucellosis in Cameroon: Seroprevalence and risk factors in beef-type cattle

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Sensory quality of meat from lambs fed on different diets

The whole seed of sweet lupin var. Multitalia with a protein content higher than 35% and a low content in alkaloids constitutes a good protein source alternative to soybean meal, today deriving for more than 60% from OGM (Genetically Modified Organisms) cultivation. Moreover, the poor national production and the cost of feeds for animals forces the livestock compartment to utilize alternative biomasses the availability of which highly depends on from the environment and the season

Variability in the characteristics of fresh meat and thighs in relationship to genetic type of the heavy pig

The variability in the characteristics of fresh meat and thighs in relationship with genetic type was studied on 22 lots of heavy pigs, comprising 615 female and castrated males, randomly chosen during slaughtering in groups of 20 to 30 animals per lot. Four different genetic types reared for the production of the San Daniele dry-cured ham PDO were considered: two traditionals (Large White or Duroc x (Landrace x Large White) and two industrial hybrids (GOLAND and DANBRED). Fresh meat samples from longissimus dorsi muscle were collected to perform chemical and physical analysis. The right trimmed thighs were used to evaluate some morphological parameters along with weight losses during seasoning. The genetic type confirmed its important influence on pig carcass, meat and ham quality. The two industrial types, DANBRED in particular, tended to present a lower back fat values and a leaner carcass than the two Italian genetic types. Within the most important characteristics for the production of dry cured hams (subcutaneous fat thickness and seasoning losses) the highest differences were found among the industrials genetic types, which cannot be simply considered as an undifferentiated homogenous group

Effect of ageing time on consumer-perceived quality of Italian Simmental beef

The aim of the experiment was to provide an objective indication on the optimal ageing time of meat from ItalianSimmental (IS) young bulls, the most important commercial category of the breed. The research was carried out on 10young bulls slaughtered at the average weight of 688 kg (SE: 7.3 kg). The right side of each carcass was stored for 7days and the left one for further 7 days, at normal refrigeration temperatures. At the end of the ageing period, the sideswere sampled at the loin for meat pH, color, cooking loss and shear force measurement. A central location, affective testinvolving 74 consumers was carried out to measure the degree of liking for grilled beef aged 7 or 14 days.The pH and color parameters were not significantly affected by the duration of post-mortem storage, while cooking lossincreased (31.4 vs 32.6 %; P&lt;0.05) and shear force values diminished (56.7 vs 46.8 N; P&lt; 0.01) when ageing timeincreased from 7 to 14 days. The degree of liking by the untrained respondents for the two types of cooked meat wasdifferent, considering that consumers gave the highest hedonistic scores to beef aged 14 days. Tenderness was the sensoryattribute that allowed the best discrimination between beef stored for periods of different length. In fact, while thedifference between 14-day-aged and 7-day-aged beef for flavour ratings (7.0 vs 6.9) did not reach the threshold of significance,the former meat was perceived as significantly finer than the latter regarding tenderness (6.5 vs 5.6; P= 0.01)and marginally preferred in overall terms (6.9 vs 6.5; P= 0.07). The classification test, carried out at the end of the quantitativetest by asking consumers to select from a list the most appropriate attributes describing the stimuli associatedwith meat consumption, confirmed the effectiveness of texture attributes in ranking different-aged beef acceptability. Infact, the number of ticks reported for chewiness and juiciness descriptors were different for the two types of meat: the14-day-aged beef was perceived as easier to chew (57 vs 34 ticks) and juicier (42 vs 24) than the shortest-aged beef.Ageing for 14 days should be recommended as a process control point for the beef industry to improve consumer acceptanceof IS young bull beef

Quality traits of fallow deer (Dama dama) dry-cured hams

Su prosciutti ricavati da cosce disossate di daini di due diverse età (18 e 30 mesi) e tenuti al pascolo con o senza integrazione alimentare, sono stati analizzati: composizione centesimale, acidi grassi, sale, indice di proteolisi, Texture Profile Analysis. I dati qualitativi evidenziano poche variazioni fra le 4 classi di animali e sono indici diun prodotto di elevato interesse nutrizionale