Sow rearing in north Italy: II. analysis of nitrogen balance in different herds

The evolution of the legislation concerning the environmental impact of livestock make necessary to find solution useful to evaluate and reduce the total excretion of nitrogen (N) and other possible pollutants at territorial and farm level. The methodological approach to evaluate the amount of nitrogen excreted proposed by ERM (1999) suggested that the amount of N excreted can be calculated as a difference between the amount of nitrogen consumed less the amount of N retained in the animal products

Sow rearing in north Italy: I. analysis of technical and productive characteristics of different herds

There is a lack of information about reference values for the main productive and reproductive indexes for the sow herds in North Italy. This investigation was aimed to collect data from different kind of sow herds placed in the Veneto Region, in order to achieve representative values, in terms of mean and variability, for the main indexes of productivity: herd composition, feed consumption and feed composition

Bibliometric review on the volatile organic compounds in meat

Meat flavor is an important aspect of meat quality that also influences consumer demand, and is therefore very important for the meat industry. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) contribute in large part to the flavor of meat, and while increasing numbers of articles are published on this topic, reviews of these articles are very scarce. Therefore, our aim was to perform a bibliometric analysis of the scientific publications on VOCs in meat over the period 2000–2020. We selected 611 scientific sources from the Scopus database related to VOCs in meat (seafood excluded). The bibliometric information retrieved included journals, authors, countries, institutions, keywords, and citations. From this analysis, we drew up a list of the most important journals, authors, countries, and institutions, and the trends in VOC research on meat. We conducted a social network analysis (SNA) to identify the collaborations among the many authors and countries, and a keyword analysis to generate a network map of the authors’ keywords. We also determined which meat species were most frequently chosen as research subjects, traced the evolution of the various methods/instruments used, and explored the research tendencies. Finally, we point out the need for further research in defining meat quality, improving meat flavor, identifying adulterants, and certifying the authenticity of meat

Quanti-qualitative evaluation of pectins in the dietary fibre of 24 foods

The dietary fibre of 24 foods was analysed for its proportions of insoluble and soluble (SDF) fractions and for its contentof high methoxyl pectins (HM), low methoxyl pectins (LM) and protopectin. The fractional extraction and quantitativedetermination of pectins were performed on the total dietary fibre residue, following the procedure suggested byRobertson (1979). Total pectin content (TP), calculated as sum of the three fractions, ranged from 2.4 to 49.8 g/kg ofdry matter. The variation coefficient of TP measurements repeated on the same foods were, on average, 2%. Total pectincontent was 49.8 g/kg DM in dried beet pulp and averaged 33.8+_0.3 g/kg DM in fruits and vegetables, 13.2+_8.4 g/kgDM in legumes and tubers and only 2.8+_0.5 g/kg DM in cereals. HM fraction prevailed in apple and pear samples (>40%of TP), while LM and protopectin largely prevailed in legumes and vegetables. A strong variability among foods was foundfor the TP/SDF ratio. In general, within each food category, increasing levels of SDF were associated with decreasing valuesof TP/SDF ratio. Since many foods contain low amounts of pectins, care in the development of calibration curves forspectrophotometric reading is required. Finally, the whole procedure for pectin extraction and quantification on dietaryfibre of food is very complex and time-consuming

EFFECTS OF LOW ANTINUTRITIONAL FACTORS RAW FULL-FAT SOYBEAN ON BEEF CATTLE FEEDING. INFRA-VITAM PERFORMANCE

The aim of this trial was to evaluate the effects of different sources of soybean on the infra-vitam performance of fattening beef cattle. The animals (56 Limousine) were divided, according to BW (287±17 kg), in 4 experimental groups: LAFS (raw full-fat soybean low in antinutritional factors); SBM (soybean meal); TS (toasted full-fat soybean); NTS (non toasted full-fat soybean). The animals were fed a basal diet (TMR) (DM:59.5%; CP:9.3%DM; NDF:33.9%DM; starch:34.9%DM) supplemented as top dressing with different sources of soybeans in order to reach the same amount of additional CP (473 g/d). To obtain isoenergetic diets, calcium soap of palm fat (234 g/d) was also added to SBM group. Animals were weighed monthly, DM intake was calculated daily and two blood samplings were collected. No metabolic disorders or pathological events were observed during the experiment. The daily gains of the first 6 months were not significantly different among the 4 experimental groups (on the average 1.35 ± 0.25 kg/d). DM intake values in the same period were similar (8.57 ± 0.78 kg/d of DM). The soybean supplementation did not affect the metabolic parameters (calculated as differences between the sampling times) except for the *-glutamyl-transferase (P<0.01), the total plasma protein and globulin (P<0.05). The preliminary results of this experiment can indicate no significant effects of soybean antinutritional factors on the infra-vitam performances of beef cattle during the first fattening period

The allometric partition of whole body protein in lean fraction of growing pigs using information from three different datasets

The hypothesis that a single allometric relationship relating carcass lean protein (CLP) to whole body protein (WBP) can allow accurate estimates of CLP on pigs of different populations, sex and nutritional history, was tested. Three datasets of different origins were used. Data were representative of 548 pigs, castrated males and females, of 8 pig populations, serially slaughtered over ample empty body weight (EBW) ranges (from 22 to 217 kg). WBP and CLP ranged, respectively, from 2 to 28 and from 1 to 16 kg. The pooled data were run and the following relationship was found: CLP=0.497*WBP1.021 (CV=0.062; rsd=0.501 kg). The residuals were subjected to ANOVA to test the effects due to dataset, pig population within dataset and sex; significant differences between datasets mean residuals (+0.095, SE=0.041; -0.258, SE=0.094; -0.116, SE=0.055 kg, P<0.001) were observed. No differences due to sex and pig populations were found. The average residuals were low and only in few cases they differed from zero. Conclusions: CLP can be accurately predicted from WBP; the coefficients of this function are mainly influenced by the procedures of slaughtering, dissection, sampling and analysis

effects of low protein diets and rumen protected conjugated linoleic acid on production and carcass traits of growing double muscled piemontese bulls

The effects of low-protein (LP) diets and rumen-protected CLA on DMI, ADG, carcass traits, and health status of double-muscled Piemontese young bulls were investigated. Forty-eight bull calves (BW = 237 ± 24 kg) were divided in 4 groups and housed in 12 fully slatted pens. Bulls were fed 2 diets differing in CP density (high-protein (HP) diet: CP = 145 g/kg of DM; LP diet: CP = 108 g/kg of DM) and top-dressed with 80 g/d of rumen-protected CLA or 65 g/d of hydrogenated soybean oil. Orts were collected weekly and feed intake was estimated on a pen basis, with 3 replicated pens for each treatment. Each bull was weighed monthly and examined for alterations of the locomotion system by using the locomotion score as an index of lameness and by counting the number of swollen joints. Carcass quality traits were measured at slaughter, after a feeding period of 332 d. Compared with HP, LP reduced ADG only during the first 4 mo of the trial (1.30 vs. 1.53 kg/d, P = 0.003). However, be- cause of compensatory growth, over the whole trial, no significant effects attributable to CP or to additive were found on final BW (668 kg), ADG (1.19 kg/d), DMI (8.50 or 86 g/d per kg of BW 0.75 ), dressing percentage (67.3%), carcass conformation (5.2 points), and carcass fat covering (1.87 points). Feed efficiency was affected by a CP × additive interaction (P = 0.030), with CLA improving feed efficiency when added to the LP diets, whereas feed efficiency was reduced with the HP diets. The addition of both LP and CLA reduced the number of bulls presenting swollen joints (P = 0.001), and LP improved the locomotion score (P = 0.021) compared with HP. It was concluded that 10.8 g/kg of CP density in the diet is sufficient for double-muscled Piemontese bulls. The reduction in CP density from 145 to 108 g/ kg of DM, in addition to reducing the feeding cost, allows a strong reduction in N consumption without negative consequences on growth performance and car- cass traits

Airborne pollen: a potential warning alert for tickborne encephalitis risk

The circulation of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEv) depends on population dynamics of host tick and rodents, which in turn depend on nutrient resources. Tree seeds are the main food for rodents, and their fluctuating production is strongly correlated to pollen abundance. Our study aims to fill the gap and investigate whether airborne pollen is directly associated to recorded TBEv human cases in the Alpine biogeographical region. Materials and Methods We focused our study within the province of Trento (northern Italy, 6,000km2, 500,000 inhabitants). The territory is included in the Alpine biogeographical region (EEA Report No 1/2002) and the main forest tree species growing within a 5-km radius from the pollen sampler are represented by hop-hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia Scop.), beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), spruce (Picea abies L.), pine (Pinus sylvestris L. and P. nigra J. F. Arnold), downy oak (Quercus pubescens Willd.), manna ash (Fraxinus ornus L.), and hazel (Corylus avellana L.). Airborne pollen concentration has been monitored since 1989 at Fondazione Edmund Mach, in San Michele all’Adige (Latitude 46.19 N, Longitude 11.13 E, 220 m a.s.l.), while TBEv human cases have been recorded since 1992 by the local Public Health Agency. Airborne pollen was sampled by a Hirst-type trap, processed, and analyzed following conventional techniques and standardized protocols (UNI EN 16868:2019). First, we statistically investigated the association between the annual total pollen concentration of the dominant arboreal plant taxa and the annual number of TBEv human cases (1989-2020) with different time lags by univariate linear models. Consequently, we built a full model by considering all significant covariates, we computed all possible sub-models and finally we selected the best (the one with the lowest Akaike’s Information Criterion score). Results and Discussion We found a significant positive association between pollen abundances for beech (p=0.04), oak p=0.012), hop hornbeam (p=0.013) and TBEv human cases with a two-year lag (Figure 1). All other lags and taxa resulted in non-significant relationships. Subsequently, we identified the best model, which considered only hop-hornbeam and oak pollen quantities, both with positive coefficients, consistently with the univariate analysis. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt at quantifying the potential relationship between airborne pollen abundances of tree species and TBEv infections, based on a three-decade time series of data. If validated at a larger spatial scale, pollen data might therefore be used to realize an early warning system for the risk of TBEv transmission, two years in advance. Moreover, as pollen monitoring is routinely performed worldwide at multiple sites and provides quantitative measures, the association between pollen abundances and TBEv infections could be replicated in different biogeographical regions

Effects of fat supplementations on milk production and composition, ruminal and plasma parameters of dairy cows

The effects on milk yield and quality caused by the same amount (325 g/d/cow) of lipids provided by 3 different fat sources (hydrogenate palm fat, HF; calcium salt palm fat, CaSF; full-fat toasted soybean, TS), top dressed to a common total mixed ration, were investigated. Supplementations did not affect feed intake and milk yield, but markedly changed the acidic profile of milk fat. CaSF and TS significantly increased the proportions of unsaturated fatty acids of milk fat with respect to control and to HF. The 3 fat sources did not affect the concentrations of ammonia and VFA of rumen fluid. TS only slightly increased (P<0.10) plasma urea content because of a higher dietary protein supply, with respect to the other treatments. The use of a low amount of toasted and cracked full fat soybean seem to be interesting to increase the energy concentration of diets in replacement to commercial fat products and it can be use to modify the milk fat quality increasing the fraction with benefit effects on human health

Linking food web functioning and habitat diversity for an ecosystem based management: A Mediterranean lagoon case-study

We propose a modelling approach relating the functioning of a transitional ecosystem with the spatial extension of its habitats. A test case is presented for the lagoon of Venice, discussing the results in the context of the application of current EU directives. The effects on food web functioning due to changes related to manageable and unmanageable drivers were investigated. The modelling procedure involved the use of steady-state food web models and network analysis, respectively applied to estimate the fluxes of energy associated with trophic interactions, and to compute indices of food web functioning. On the long term (hundred years) temporal scale, the model indicated that the expected loss of salt marshes will produce further changes at the system level, with a lagoon showing a decrease in the energy processing efficiency. On the short term scale, simulation results indicated that fishery management accompanied by seagrass restoration measures would produce a slight transition towards a more healthy system, with higher energy cycling, and maintaining a good balance between processing efficiency and resilience. Scenarios presented suggest that the effectiveness of short term management strategies can be better evaluated when contextualized in the long term trends of evolution of a system. We also remark the need for further studying the relationship between habitat diversity and indicators of food web functioning