A decision support model simulating the vitamin supply over the year on a farm

The aim of this new project is to develop a prototype of a decision support model simulating the feed and vitamin supply during a year to different groups of animals (calves, heifers, dry cows, cows in early and late lactation) on a farm self-sufficient with feed. The model takes into account that the content of vitamin depends on choice of crops, utilization method, cutting date, conservation method and duration of storage together with traditional optimizing the feed-ing scheme

Performance and diarrhoea in piglets following weaning at seven weeks of age: Challenge with E. coli O 149 and effect of dietary factors

Four dietary factors (ad libitum versus feed restriction, control versus protein restriction at ad libitum feeding, control versus inclusion of lupine as a protein source at ad libitum feeding, and control versus extra vitamin E at ad libitum feeding) were tested in four separate experiments for the effect on diarrhoea. To introduce a diarrhoea-like condition, half of the piglets were challenged with an inoculation of an E. coli O 149 dose of 1 x 108 colony forming units on day two and three after weaning (day of weaning = day one). All piglets were susceptible since the dams were tested mono-zygotic susceptible to the attachment site of E. coli O 149 in the intestines. Each of the four experiments included 32 piglets from 4 sows. The design was 2 x 2 factorial with dietary factor and E. coli O 149 challenge as the two factors, each at two levels. The piglets were housed individually during the experiment which lasted for 10 days from weaning at 7 weeks of age. The daily recordings included feed intake, weight and faeces score (from 1 = firm and solid to 6 = yellow and watery). Faeces from days 2 to 5 were tested for E. coli strains. In addition, blood was sampled and serum was analysed for E. coli antibodies, IgG and IgM. Generally the E. coli challenge had no effect on growth and feed intake whereas faeces score and number of faeces haemolytic bacteria increased and faeces dry matter decreased. Feed restriction decreased the weight gain while faeces characteristics were unaffected. An analysis including all four experiments revealed that a feed intake of less than 200 g day one after weaning seems to be associated with a relatively high incidence of a post-weaning diarrhoea-like condition. Protein restriction decreased faeces score and increased faeces dry matter while weight gain tended to decrease. Inclusion of lupine affected neither weight gain nor faeces characteristics. Extra vitamin E did not affect weight gain while faeces dry matter decreased, and faeces score and number of faecal haemolytic bacteria increased. The dietary treatments had no effect on the immunological responses. In conclusion, the studied dietary factors could not alleviate a diarrhoea-like condition and at the same time maintain the growth rate. Furthermore, the results indicate that performance can be improved if piglets achieve a daily feed intake of at least 200 g from day one after weaning

PhytoMilk: Effects of botanical composition and harvest system of legume/grass silage on fatty acid, α-tocopherol and β-carotene concentration in organic forage and milk

Red clover and high proportion of forage in dairy cow diet increases the concentration of bioactive substances in milk, e.g. unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants. In the present experiment twenty-four Swedish Red dairy cows were fed three silages in a Latin Square design to study the effect of silage botanical composition and harvest time on milk fatty acid, α-tocopherol and β-carotene concentration. The silages were red clover/grass silage (mixture of first and second cut), red clover/grass silage (mixture of first, second and third cut) and birdsfoot trefoil/grass silage (mixture of first and second cut). Botanical composition and harvest system affected silage vitamin and fatty acid concentration with higher concentrations of α-linolenic acid, α-tocopherol and β-carotene in red clover/grass silage (mixture of three harvests). Milk linoleic and α-linolenic acid concentration was higher with the two red clover diets but α-tocopherol, β-carotene and retinol concentration was not affected

α-Tocopherol in plasma and milk from organically managed dairy cows fed natural or synthetic vitamin E or seaweed

The objective was to compare the effects of supplementing lactating dairy cows with synthetic (All-rac), natural (RRR) α-tocopheryl acetate or seaweed with a control on the concentration of α-tocopherol in blood and milk. Twenty four dairy cows in mid lactation, fed an organic feed ration, were randomly allocated to the four treatments in a replicated Latin square design. Plasma and milk α-tocopherol concentrations were higher in RRR and All-rac than in the other treatments and higher in RRR than in All-rac. RRR-α-tocopherol was the predominant steroisomer (> 86%), in both plasma and milk, whereas the remaining part was largely made up by the three synthetic 2R isomers. In cows fed the control, seaweed and RRR, the proportion of RRR-α-tocopherol in plasma and milk constituted more than 97% of the total α-tocopherol. The study demonstrated that dairy cows in mid and late lactation have preferential uptake of RRR-α-tocopherol compared to other stereoisomer

Vitaminer, mineraler og foderværdi af græsmarksarter

Med det formål at undersøge mulighederne for selvforsyning med mineraler og vitaminer samtidig med at udbytte og foderværdi er tilfredsstillende, blev forskellige græsser og bælgplanter dyrket i blandinger bestående af en græs og en bælgplante. Forskellen mellem arterne var meget større end betydningen af udviklingstrin. Blandt græsserne konkurrerede hybridrajgræs og engsvingel hårdere mod hvidkløver end alm. rajgræs og timothe. Alm. rajgræs og hybridrajgræs havde den bedste foderværdi. Alm. rajgræs havde generelt det højeste indhold af både makro og mikromineraler, mens timothe med undtagelse af Zn havde et lavt indhold. Engsvingel skilte sig ud ved at have et højt provitamin A og lavt vitamin E indhold. Blandt bælgplanterne havde rødkløver og lucerne den største konkurrenceevne overfor alm. rajgræs, hvidkløver en middel og kællingetand en lav konkurrenceevne. Bælgplanternes mineralprofil var meget forskellig. Kællingetand havde både et højere pro-vitamin A og vitamin E indhold end de øvrige bælgplanter. På sidste side af dette bilag ses en oversigt over disse karakteristiske forskelle. Prøverne og resultaterne er anvendt til ensileringsforsøg og som baggrund for fodringsforsøg og modellering i andre bilag i denne rapport

Selvforsyning med øko-mineraler og -vitaminer

Forskere ved DJF har vist, at det er muligt at opnå et tilstrækkeligt indhold af vitaminer og mineraler i foderrationen til økologiske malkekøer ved at anvende hjemmedyrkede grovfodermidler med en høj andel af mineral- og vitaminrige, grønne fodermidler

Driftsmåte og engalder påvirker melkekvaliteten

Fettsyresamensetning og innhold av vitaminer i melk ble i stor grad påvirket av sesong og produksjonssystem og i mindre grad av engalder. Beitesesongen hadde gunstig effekt på fettsyresammensetning sammenlignet med innefôringsperioden, mens økologisk driftsform hadde gunstige effekter som økt andel av C18:3c9,12,15 og negative effekter som økt andel mettede fettsyrer. Hovedfaktorene bak de observerte effektene antas å være fôrrasjonens andel av kraftfôr, beiteopptak, rødkløver og kraftfôrets innhold av lipider

Nutritional value of cruciferous oilseed crops in relation to profile of accumulated biomolecules with especial regard to glucosinolates transformation products

Cruciferous oilseed crops accumulate relatively high concentrations of nutritional high quality oil and proteins in their seeds. In addition to these major seed components, their co-occurrence with high concentrations of dietary fibre (DF) and various bioactive components as glucosinolates/glucosinolate products is decisive for the nutritional value of the seed meal or products obtained from it. Depending on structural types and concentration of glucosinolates and glucosinolate derived products, these compounds can be either health beneficial or act as antinutrients. The effects of these components depend, however, strongly on the type of animal and development of the animals fed with the diets based on these compounds. Results from studies based on differently treated and processed seeds and from use of individual isolated seed components included in standard diets are evaluated and treated in relation to literature data as a basis for recommendations of acceptable concentrations of glucosinolates/glucosinolate products in animal diets. A discussion on the relation between these recommendations of acceptable concentrations in feed to different animals and those reported as necessary for plant pathogen control (biofumigation) and health beneficial effects (chemoprotection) is also included

Processing-bioprocessing of oilseed rape in bioenergy production and value added utilization of remaining seed components

Cruciferous oilseed crops accumulate relatively high concentrations of oil, proteins and dietary fibres (DF) in their seeds, in addition to bioactive components as glucosinolates and myrosinase isoenzymes (thioglucohydrolase; EC 3.2.1.147). When mixed in the presence of moisture, myrosinase isoenzymes and associated components transform glucosinolates into various types of products, which reduces the value of the extracted oil and the remaining seed components, as well as producing unwanted environmental effects due to smell and toxicity. This gives a need for special care concerning myrosinase inactivation as the initial step during processing of oilseed rape, including technologies applied for biodiesel/bioenergy production. The myrosinase inactivation is thus a critical processing step, which needs to be performed at conditions with limited negative effects on other seed components, including proteins and glucosinolates. New bioprocessing technologies are now developed at levels that allow technology transfer from laboratory scale through pilot plant to industrial scale. The extraction of glucosinolates from the seed components remaining after oil separation-pressing and/or extraction is technically possible and has proven successful with the use of bioprocessing technologies. This is also the case concerning isolation of active myrosinases. The possibilities therefore exist for extraction and formulation of glucosinolates as “natural product derived” food and plant protection agents. With the great amounts of partly de-oiled rapeseed meal resulting from bioenergy/biodiesel production, the new bioprocessing technologies call thus for attention in relation to environmental friendly production of food (vegetable oil, protein and DF products), feed and other non food products

Contents of α-tocopherol and β-carotene in grasses and legumes harvested at different maturities

Concentrations of α-tocopherol and β-carotene in forage species at various maturities were studied in Scandinavia. Red clover (RC)/timothy (TI), RC/meadow fescue (MF), and birdsfoot trefoil (BT)/TI mixtures were grown in Skara and Umeå, Sweden. RC/TI,RC/perennial ryegrass (PR), white clover/PR and BT/TI were grown in Foulum, Denmark. Forages in Sweden were cut one week before heading (BH), at heading and one week after heading of TI. The regrowth was cut six and eight weeks after each harvest in the spring growth cycle. In Denmark, one first harvest and three regrowths were taken. Results from Skara and Foulum are presented. Highest concentrations of α-tocopherol and β-carotene (mg kg-1 DM) in legumes were found in BT grown in Skara (49.8 and 69.6 in spring growth cycle,48.1 and 79.8 in regrowth) and in Foulum (81.3 and 89.2). MF had more α-tocopherol and β-carotene than TI in the spring growth cycle (73.5 and 54.2 vs. 46.9 and 43.0 mg kg-1 DM). Highest concentrations of vitamins in the regrowth were found six weeks after BH with 71.8 and 104.8 mg α-tocopherol and 99.6 and 73.1 mg β-carotene kg-1 DM in legumes and grasses,respectively