Responses of Sri Lankan indigenous goats and their Jamnapari crosses to artificial challenge with Haemonchus contortus.

Goat farming plays an important role in the Sri Lankan rural economy. Sri Lankan indigenous (SLI) goats and their crossbreds are reared mainly under extensive management and indiscriminately exposed to pathogens and parasites. This study was designed to evaluate resistance to haemonchosis in SLI goats and their Jamnapari crossbreds (JCB) in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Twenty SLI and 20 JCB 4-month-old male goats were artificially challenged with 5000 H. contortus L3 larvae. Faecal egg counts (FEC), body weights, FAffa MAlan CHArt (FAMACHA®) scores, packed cell volumes (PCV), red blood cell counts, total and differential white blood cell counts, blood haemoglobin contents, serum total protein and albumin contents, and serum pepsinogen and antibody levels were determined at 0, 21, 28, 35 and 42days after challenge. Effects of measurement time were significant for all variables (P<0.05). Breed effects approached significance (P=0.06) and measurement time×breed interaction was significant (P<0.05) for FEC. Peak FEC occurred at day 35 in both goat types, and JCB goats had higher FEC than SLI goats at days 28 (P<0.001), 35 (P<0.10), and 42 (P<0.10). Means for FEC at day 35 were 1783±446 eggs per gram of feces (epg) for SLI kids and 3329±850 epg for JCB kids. Haematological parameters, serum chemistry, and FAMACHA scores suggested that SLI goats were recovering from parasitic infection by day 42, whereas JCB goats had increasing severity of anaemia. Means for PCV in SLI goats decreased from 26.8±0.7% at day 0 to 19.7±0.9% at day 35 and thereafter increased to 20.2±0.9% at day 42. Means for PCV in JCB goats declined from 25.9±0.6% at day 0 to 17.2±0.9% at day 42. Eosinophilia was observed in both genotypes. The JCB goats were heavier than SLI goats and had higher antibody titres, reflecting higher levels of parasitism. Both goat types significantly increased in body weight during the experiment and therefore tolerated parasite infection without severe production losses. We concluded that SLI goats were more resistant to haemonchosis than JCB goats, but that JCB goats were somewhat resilient to parasitic infection. Substantial variability in measurements associated with parasite infection in both breeds indicated potential to improve parasite resistance. Phenotypic information should be coupled with genomic information to identify appropriate breeding goals for future selection programs.

Applications of marine nutraceuticals in dairy products.

The concept of nutraceutical has been derived by coining the terms "nutrition" and "pharmaceutical". In this context, active substances with pharmaceutical properties are delivered to the humans through food-based approaches to prevent or treat certain disease conditions. Since the natural sources are recognized as safe for human consumption, the active substances produced in the diverse group of marine organisms have a wide role in the nutraceutical industry. These marine-derived active ingredients include certain polysaccharides, polyphenols, bioactive peptides, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and carotenoids which are known to have anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiobese, hypocholesteroleic, antimicrobial, prebiotic, and probiotic activity enabling them to be applied as nutraceuticals. As the dairy products are widely accepted by the consumers, the delivering of nutraceuticals through dairy products have received a greater attention of the dairy industry. Since the incorporation of marine-derived active ingredients into the dairy products have caused minimal changes in the physico-chemical properties of the final product, marine-derived substances have been widely applied and have the potential to be applied as nutraceuticals in the dairy industry.