Fatty acid composition, shelf-life and eating quality of beef from steers fed corn or wheat dried distillers' grains with solubles in a concentrate supplement to grass silage

Thirty-six steers were randomly assigned to one of three dietary treatments fed ad libitum grass silage and concentrate supplements containing either barley/soybean meal (CON), 80% DM corn (CDGS)- or 80% DM wheat (WDGS)-dried distillers' grains with solubles for 124 days pre-slaughter. Chemical and fatty acid composition, shelf-life, and eating quality of longissimus thoracis muscle were determined. Dietary CDGS and WDGS increased the proportion of conjugated linoleic acids (P < 0.05) and tended to increase C18:3n-3 (P = 0.075) and total polyunsaturated fatty acids (P = 0.060) relative to the CON. Feeding diets containing distillers' grains reduced the lipid and colour stability of fresh beef patties stored in modified atmosphere packs (MAP), with CDGS exhibiting an intermediate effect between CON and WDGS. Diet did not negatively influence the texture profile parameters and eating quality attributes of beef stored in MAP. The inclusion of CDGS or WDGS in supplementary concentrates may improve the fatty acid profile but decreased the shelf-life of beef

Site Effects in the Eastern Po Plain by Mean of Weak and Strong Earthquakes

We present the activities carried out within the S2 2012-2013 Project, funded in the frame of DPCINGV Agreement, that concerns the mid-long term Seismic Hazard Assessment in Italy on two priority areas, the Po Plain and the Southern Italy. The Po Valley, an area hitherto considered of low seismological interest, has attracted the attention of the seismological community following the events of May 20, 2012. The day after the main shock that stuck eastern Emilia in 2012, the OGS - Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale deployed a temporary seismographic network in the Ferrara area. All the investigated locations were set on soft soils. The large amount of collected data allowed comparison between observed PGA and theoretical predictions, ShakeMaps and attenuation laws, but the lack of a reference site during the 2012 recordings did not allow for estimating the amplification factor. In order to accomplish this task, in February 2013, a new 5 stations recording array acquired data at four of the 2012 network sites and at the Casaglia reference site, north of Ferrara, where a borehole Very Broad-Band station is coupled with a midperiod sensor at the surface. This borehole reference station made possible the estimation of site amplification of the 2013 array sites. The reference methods allowed an easier identification of the resonance frequency, which peaks appear sharper than what displayed by single-station methods (both H/V on ambient noise and earthquakes), and relative soil amplification. A large amount of original seismological data has been recorded in a poorly instrumented area, including significant events of the 2012 Emilia and 2013 Lunigiana sequences. The entire dataset of continuous waveforms has been made available on the OGS web based OASIS Database, from the earliest stages of the project. For the largest events strong-motion parameters were calculated and published on the OASIS database. Event time series and metadata (site monographs) are available similarly to the ITACA Database

Vitamin E is the major contributor to the antioxidant capacity in lambs fed whole dried citrus pulp.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary whole dried citrus pulp (DCP) on the antioxidant status of lamb tissues. In total, 17 lambs were divided into two groups and fed for 56 days: a barley-based concentrate diet (CON - eight animals), or a concentrate-based diet including 35% DCP to partially replace barley (CIT - nine animals). The CIT diet contained a double concentration of phenolic compounds than the CON diet (7.9 v. 4.0 g/kg dry matter (DM), respectively), but had no effect (P>0.05) on the overall antioxidant capacity of the hydrophilic fraction of blood plasma, liver and muscle. The CIT diet contained clearly more α-tocopherol than the CON diet (45.7 v. 10.3 mg/kg DM), which could explain the higher concentration of α-tocopherol in liver, plasma and muscle (P<0.05). The dietary treatment had no effect on the extent of lipid peroxidation, measured as thiobarbituric acid and reactive substances assay (TBARS values) in the faeces, small intestine, liver, plasma and muscle. Nevertheless, when muscle homogenates were incubated in the presence of Fe3+/ascorbate to induce lipid peroxidation, the muscle from lambs fed DCP displayed lower TBARS values (P<0.01), which negatively correlated with the concentration of α-tocopherol in muscle. These results showed that feeding whole DCP to ruminants increases the antioxidant status of muscle through an increase in the deposition of α-tocopherol

Effect of different dietary tannin extracts on lamb growth performances and meat oxidative stability: comparison between mimosa, chestnut and tara.

Little information is available on the effects of different sources of tannins on ruminant product quality. Nowadays several tannin-rich extracts, produced from different plants, are available and contain tannins belonging to different chemical groups, but most of these have not been used so far as feed supplements. The present study aimed at comparing the effects of feeding three tannin extracts (one containing condensed tannins and two containing hydrolysable tannins) to lambs on growth performances and meat oxidative stability. Comisana male lambs were divided into four groups (n=9 each) and were fed for 75 days: a concentrate-based diet (CON), or CON supplemented with 4% tannin extracts from either mimosa (MI; Acacia mearnsii, De Wild; condensed tannins), chestnut (CH; Castanea sativa, Mill; hydrolysable ellagitannins) or tara (TA; Cesalpinia spinosa, (Molina) Kuntze; hydrolysable gallotannins). Only CH reduced growth rate, final weight, carcass weight and feed intake (P0.05). The TA diet increased (P<0.001) the concentration of γ-tocopherol in muscle and tended to increase that of α-tocopherol (P=0.058). Oxidative stability of raw and cooked meat, or of meat homogenates incubated with pro-oxidants, was not affected by the extracts. These results, compared with those reported in the literature, highlight that some effects of tannins cannot be easily generalized, but may strictly depend on their specific characteristics and on conditions inherent to the basal diet and the metabolic status of the animals

Leguminosas bioactivas para mejorar el perfil lipídico de la carne de cordero

6 páginas, 2 figuras, 1 tabla.La utilización de leguminosas forrajeras en la dieta de los rumiantes puede ofrecer importantes ventajas. Además de su elevado valor proteico, algunas especies como la esparceta o el trébol rojo, contienen compuestos bioactivos que podrían mejorar la calidad nutricional de la carne. Entre ellos, destacan los taninos en la esparceta y la polifenol oxidasa en el trébol rojo. Ahora bien, la climatología de muchas áreas limita su aprovechamiento en verde. En este estudio, mostramos que la utilización de la esparceta y el trébol rojo conservados mediante ensilado podría ser una buena alternativa para la alimentación de corderos, al aumentar la concentración de ácidos grasos poliinsaturados (PUFA) en la carne a través de su efecto sobre el metabolismo lipídico ruminal. Aunque el mecanismo de acción de los compuestos bioactivos presentes en estos forrajes probablemente sea distinto, sus efectos sobre el perfil de ácidos grasos de la carne parecen ser similares y aditivos.Este trabajo forma parte del proyecto Legume Plus, financiado por la Comisión Europea a través de una Red de Formación Inicial Marie Curie (PITN GA- 2011- 289377) PG . Toral disfruta de un contrato Ramón y Cajal, financiado por el Ministerio de Economía, lndustria y Competitividad.Peer reviewe

Photonic Torque Microscopy of the Nonconservative Force Field for Optically Trapped Silicon Nanowires

We measure, by photonic torque microscopy, the nonconservative rotational motion arising from the transverse components of the radiation pressure on optically trapped, ultrathin silicon nanowires. Unlike spherical particles, we find that nonconservative effects have a significant influence on the nanowire dynamics in the trap. We show that the extreme shape of the trapped nanowires yields a transverse component of the radiation pressure that results in an orbital rotation of the nanowire about the trap axis. We study the resulting motion as a function of optical power and nanowire length, discussing its size-scaling behavior. These shape-dependent nonconservative effects have implications for optical force calibration and optomechanics with levitated nonspherical particles

Quality indices and sensory attributes of beef from steers offered grass silage and a concentrate supplemented with dried citrus pulp

peer-reviewedThis study investigated the quality composition, oxidative stability and sensory attributes of beef (longissimus thoracis, LT) from steers offered grass silage and a concentrate supplement in which barley was replaced by 40% and 80% (as-fed basis) of dried citrus pulp (DCP). Dietary treatment did not influence the antioxidant status (α-tocopherol and total phenolic contents) and activities of LT (radical scavenging activity, ferric reducing antioxidant power and iron chelating activity). Feeding DCP significantly increased the proportion of conjugated linoleic acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids in beef. Lipid and colour stability of fresh beef patties stored in modified atmosphere packs (MAP) were unaffected by dietary treatment but feeding 40% DCP reduced (P < .05) lipid oxidation in aerobically-stored cooked beef patties. Beef patties stored in MAP for up to 7 days were assessed by sensory panellists to be juicier for those fed 40% DCP compared to 0% and 80% DCP. Results indicated that substitution of barley with DCP improved the fatty acid profiles of beef without negatively influencing the eating quality of beef.Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agenc

Influence of dietary cardoon meal on growth performance and selected meat quality parameters of lambs, and the antioxidant potential of cardoon extract in ovine muscle homogenates

Fatty acids and oxidative stability were determined in meat from lambs fed a diet containing 15% dehydrated alfalfa (CON, n = 8) or cardoon meal (CMD, n = 7). Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of a phenolic-rich cardoon meal extract (1.32 GAE mg/ml) was examined in muscle homogenates (0, 0.5, 1, 5% v/w) subjected to iron/ascorbate-induced oxidation. Feeding CMD did not affect lamb performances and carcass traits but reduced (P < 0.05) the vaccenic and rumenic acids and increased stearic acid in muscle. Lipid oxidation was higher in raw meat from the CMD-fed lambs after 7 days of storage (P < 0.05). Feeding CMD did not affect the colour stability of raw meat and the oxidative stability of cooked meat and of muscle homogenates incubated with pro-oxidant catalysts. Adding 5% cardoon extract in muscle homogenates increased (+114.3%; P = 0.03) the total phenolic content and reduced (−77.6%; P < 0.01) lipid oxidation, demonstrating the antioxidant potential of compounds present in cardoon meal

Dietary pomegranate by-product improves oxidative stability of lamb meat

This study investigated the effect of including whole pomegranate by-product in lamb diet on meat oxidative stability. Seventeen lambs were assigned to two experimental treatments and fed a cereal-based concentrate (CON) or the same concentrate where 200 g/kg DM of cereals were replaced by whole pomegranate by-product (WPB). Meat from WPB-fed lambs had a greater concentration of vitamin E (a- and .-tocopherols), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), highly peroxidizable PUFA and a higher peroxidability index (P < 0.05). Feeding WPB limited the formation of metmyoglobin (P = 0.05) and reduced lipid oxidation (TBARS values) after 7 days of storage for raw meat (P = 0.024) or 4 days for cooked meat (P = 0.006). Feeding WPB increased meat antioxidant capacity (ORAC assay) in the lipophilic fraction (P = 0.017), but not in the hydrophilic. These results suggest that vitamin E in the pomegranate by-product contributed to the higher antioxidant capacity of meat from the WPB-fed lambs

Review of the regulations concerning organic dairy calf rearing in seven European countries

This review constitutes a part of the Core Organic project ‘ProYoungStock’ – Promoting young stock and cow health and welfare by natural feeding systems. The overarching aim of the project is to improve young stock rearing systems concerning animal welfare-friendly husbandry, feeding and disease prevention by identifying approaches on different levels. More natural rearing systems are one approach to solve welfare problems in current calf rearing. Previous studies have shown considerable variations in herd characteristics and management strategies between organic dairy farms in Europe. The differences have been associated with regional and national conditions for organic farming. However, it is possible that differences in national legislation also play a part in these variations. Relevant EU and national rules on organic production and animal welfare were compiled in the following seven European countries: Sweden (SE), France (FR), Poland (PL), Germany (DE), Italy (IT), Austria (AT), and Switzerland (CH). The purpose was to provide information on drivers and barriers for cow-calf contact systems in organic dairy production and to identify possible areas for improvement and/or harmonization. Our results did not identify any major barriers in national rules for the use of rearing systems allowing cow-calf contact. Instead, cow-calf contact is promoted by the requirement to feed organic calves preferably maternal milk during the first three months of their life. Specifications regarding calf rearing derives from animal protection legislation rather than regulations of organic farming but milk hygiene regulations can also have an influence on practicability of cow-calf contact. Variations in national legislation can affect details of design and implementation of cow-calf systems, however, other factors (e.g. overall conditions for organic dairy farming, traditions, economics and disease prevention strategies) rather than regulations likely play more important roles