Assessment of Elemental Deficiency of Crossbred Dairy Cows and Mineral Composition in Natural Feed and Nutritional Supplements in the Northern and Northwestern Provinces in Sri Lanka.

This study assessed the elemental status of cross-bred dairy cows in small holder farms in Sri Lanka, with the aim to establish the elemental baseline and identify possible deficiencies. For this purpose, 458 milk, hair, serum and whole blood samples were collected from 120 cows in four regions of Northern and Northwestern Sri Lanka, (namely Vavaniya, Mannar, Jaffna and Kurunegala). Farmers also provided a total of 257 samples of feed, which included local fodder as well as 79 supplement materials. The concentrations of As, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, I, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, Se, V and Zn were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Evaluation of the data revealed that all cows in this study could be considered deficient in I and Co (18.6-78.5 µg L-1 I and 0.06-0.65 µg L-1 Co, in blood serum) when compared with deficiency upper boundary levels of 0.70 µg L-1 Co and 50 µg L-1 I. Poor correlations were found between the composition of milk or blood with hair, which suggests that hair is not a good indicator of mineral status. Most local fodders meet dietary requirements, with Sarana grass offering the greatest nutritional profile. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to assess differences in the elemental composition of the diverse types of feed, as well as regional variability, revealing clear differences between forage, concentrates and nutritional supplements, with the latter showing higher concentrations of non-essential or even toxic elements, such as Cd and Pb.

A fast ultra performance supercritical fluid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method for profiling of targeted phytosterols.

Phytosterols are essential structural components of plant cell membranes and possess health-related benefits, including lowering blood cholesterol levels in humans. Numerous analytical methods are being used to profile plant and animal sterols. Chromatography hyphenated to tandem mass spectrometry, is a better option due to its specificity, selectivity, and sensitivity. An ultra-performance supercritical fluid chromatography hyphenated with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) tandem mass spectrometric method was developed and evaluated for fingerprint analysis of seven phytosterols. Mass spectrometry fragmentation behavior was used for phytosterol identification, and multiple reaction monitoring scanning was utilized for phytosterol confirmation, where APCI outperformed superiority in terms of ion intensity, particularly in the production of [M + H-H2O]+ ions rather than [M + H]+ ions. The chromatographic conditions were thoroughly evaluated, and the ionization parameters were optimized as well. In a 3 min. run, the seven phytosterols were separated concurrently. The calibration and repeatability tests were conducted to check the instrument's performance, and the results indicated that all of the phytosterols tested had correlation coefficients (r2) greater than 0.9911 over the concentration range of 5-5000 ng/mL. The limit of quantification was below 20 ng/mL for all the tested analytes except for stigmasterol and campesterol. The partially validated method was applied for the evaluation of phytosterols in pure coconut oil and palm oil in order to demonstrate its applicability. Total sterols in coconut and palm oils were 126.77 ng/mL and 101.73 ng/mL, respectively. In comparison to earlier methods of phytosterol analysis, the novel method offers a far faster, more sensitive, and more selective analytical process.

Isolation, identification and characterization of L actobacillus species diversity from Meekiri: traditional fermented buffalo milk gels in Sri Lanka.

Traditional fermented buffalo milk gel; Meekiri, is a popular buffalo milk-derived product in Sri Lanka. Predominantly, it is produced using the back-slopping (adding a small amount of the previous fermentate) technique, following the life-long traditions available at the cottage level. Hence, diverse and unclassified starter cultures are likely to be established across the varying geographical regions of Meekiri production. In the present study, we aimed to elucidate the diversity of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and their characteristics including probiotic properties from major Meekeri production areas (n = 22) in Sri Lanka. Lactic acid bacteria was isolated from locally produced Meekiri samples (n = 23) and characterized based on morphological, biochemical, physiological profiles and potential of probiotic properties. The isolates revealed five different colony and cell morphologies and were classified as heterofermenters, homofermenters and facultative heterofermenters based on CO2 production using glucose. None of the isolates showed the ability to grow either at 5 °C or 0 °C, while 71 % and 100 % survival of the isolates were observed at 15 °C and 45 °C, respectively. Amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) primarily grouped the isolates into three distinct clusters based on their DNA banding patterns. Subsequently, 16S rRNA sequencing of isolates revealed the presence of four species namely, Limosilactobacillus fermentum (n = 18), Latilactobacillus curvatus (n = 2), Lactobacillus acidophilus (n = 2) and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (n = 1) and in the phylogenetic analysis, it was represented by four distinctive clades. All the isolated species demonstrated promising probiotic potential with antibiotic sensitivity, antimicrobial properties, bile acid tolerance and acid tolerance. In conclusion, traditional back-slopping Meekiri in Sri Lanka contains diverse LAB, with a negligible geographical variation at species-level. Our work provides a strong foundation and insights into future applications in starter culture development for the fermentation of buffalo's milk.

Probiotics and prebiotics in non-bovine milk.

Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate numbers, confer health benefit/s on the host, while prebiotics are nondigestible food ingredients that are selectively stimulate the growth of beneficial microorganisms in the distal parts of the host digestive tract conferring health benefits. Dairy products manufactured mainly using bovine milk is the major vehicle in delivering probiotics to humans. At present, there is an increasing demand for non-bovine probiotic milk products. Both bovine and non-bovine dairy products contain several ingredients with prebiotic properties such as oligosaccharides that could positively interact with probiotics to alter their functional properties. Furthermore, these bovine and non-bovine products could be fortified with prebiotics from various sources such as inulin and oligofructose in order to provide additional health benefits. In addition, non-bovine milk products are good sources for isolating novel potential probiotics. Non-bovine milk such as goat, sheep, camel and donkey have been used in producing several probiotic products including set-yoghurt, drinking-yoghurt, stirred-yoghurt, ice cream and cheese. Prebiotic inclusions in non-bovine milk at present is mainly associated with goat and sheep milk products. In this context, this chapter focuses on the different types of non-bovine milk products containing probiotics and prebiotics, and product quality and microbiological characteristics with special reference to probiotic viability.

Skatole metabolites in urine as a biological marker of pigs with enhanced hepatic metabolism.

Boar taint is a quality defect in meat, related to accumulation of skatole and androstenone in male pigs. The levels of skatole and its main metabolites in plasma and urine samples were measured with a validated liquid chromatography-MS method and related to activity of hepatic cytochrome P450 (CYP450) in order to identify 'fast metabolizing' pigs. Urine (n=46), blood (n=12), liver (n=25) and adipose tissue (n=46) were sampled from a total of 46 entire male pigs. Skatole levels in fat were negatively correlated to CYP2E1 activity and positively to 3-hydroxy-3-methyloxindole (HMOI), indole-3-carboxylic acid (ICA) and 2-aminoacetophenone in urine. HMOI and ICA levels in urine were the best predictors of high skatole levels in fat. In summary, the present study provided further evidence for the key role of CYP2E1 in skatole metabolism and suggested that measurement of HMOI and/or ICA in urine might provide information about skatole levels in live pigs.

Effect of potassium diformate on growth performance and gut microbiota in broiler chickens challenged with necrotic enteritis.

1. The effect of potassium diformate (KDF) on mortality, growth performance, microbial populations, pH and short chain fatty acid concentrations in the intestinal tract of broiler chickens challenged with necrotic enteritis was investigated. 2. An experiment with 1050 Cobb male broiler chickens was conducted from 1 to 35 d of age. There were 7 treatment groups: (1) unchallenged negative control, (2) unchallenged KDF (4.50 g/kg feed), (3) challenged negative control, (4) challenged positive control (100 ppm monensin and 45 ppm Zn-bacitracin), and (5) to (7) challenged KDF (inclusion rate 2.25, 4.50 and 6.75 g/kg feed, respectively). 3. The necrotic enteritis challenge caused significant growth depression except in the challenged positive control group. Inclusion of KDF in feed had no significant effect on weight gain or feed conversion ratio, neither under challenged nor unchallenged conditions. Necrotic-enteritis-related mortalities were reduced in response to the positive control feed and KDF at 2.25 and 4.50 g/kg rates, but with no effect at the 6.75 g/kg rate. 4. There was no effect of KDF on Clostridium perfringens numbers in jejunum during the necrotic enteritis challenge (d 15). Post challenge (d 35), 4.5 g/kg KDF reduced the number of C. perfringens and Enterobacteria in jejunum compared with the negative control group. 5. Intestinal pH was not affected by adding KDF to the feed. The challenge reduced jejunum pH compared with the unchallenged treatment groups and challenged positive control group. 6. Chickens fed the KDF diets had detectable concentrations of formic acid in the jejunum. There was a tendency towards higher concentrations of acetic acid and lactic acid in the small intestine of unchallenged birds, whereas challenged birds had higher concentrations of butyric acid in the caeca. 7. It is concluded that KDF holds promise as an agent to control necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens and it may be possible to enhance the efficacy of KDF by manipulating dietary properties that may influence the dissociation kinetics of KDF in the gut.