Nitrogen metabolism in lambs fed diets containing peach palm meal.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the nitrogen metabolism of lambs fed diets containing peach palm meal substituting maize (0, 10, 40, 60, and 85 % DM). Thirty Santa Inês uncastrated lambs with an average initial body weight of 21.6 ± 0.87 kg were distributed in a completely randomized design with five diets and six replicates. The nitrogen (N) intake (g/day, %BW) and the fecal N decreased linearly as the peach palm meal was added to the concentrate. The urinary N, however, responded quadratically, with maxima at the level of 29.97 and 40.44 % of substitution of maize for peach palm meal when expressed in g/day and %BW, respectively. The substitution of maize for peach palm meal reduced the retention of nitrogen and the microbial protein synthesis in the lambs.

Intake, digestibility and performance of lambs fed diets containing peach palm meal.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the intake and apparent digestibility of nutrients, performance, and plasma glucose concentration of ram lambs fed diets containing peach palm meal substituting maize (0, 10, 40, 60, and 85 % dry matter (DM)). Thirty Santa Inês rams with an average initial body weight of 21.6 ± 0.87 kg were distributed in a completely randomized design with five diets and six replicates. The substitution of the maize for the peach palm meal affected (P < 0.05) the intakes of DM, organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber corrected for ash and protein (NDFap), total carbohydrates (TC), total digestible nutrients (TDN), and metabolizable energy (ME), which decreased linearly (P < 0.05); the intake of ether extract (EE), however, fit an increasing linear equation (P < 0.05). The apparent digestibility coefficients of DM, OM, NDFap, and TC decreased linearly (P < 0.05) as the level of peach palm meal in the concentrate was increased. The total weight gain and the average daily gain decreased by 0.09 and 0.001 kg with each level of substitution of the maize for peach palm meal, respectively. It is recommended to substitute 40 % of the maize for peach palm meal.

Creatinine as a Urinary Marker of the Purine Derivatives Excretion in Urine Spot Samples of Lambs Fed Peach Palm Meal.

The objective was to evaluate the influence of diets on lambs using different levels of peach palm meal as a replacement for maize (0, 10, 40, 60, and 85% of diet dry matter) on the endogenous creatinine clearance (CC), urine concentration ratio of purine derivatives to creatinine (PDC index), and daily creatinine excretion (DCE) as a marker to estimate purine derivatives (PD) excretion from urinary spot samples collected at different time points (4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24 h after morning feeding) compared to 24-h total urine collection. The measured parameters were voluntary intake, urinary volume, CC, DCE, the concentration of plasma creatinine, and PD and purine derivatives' excretion (PDE). Five lambs were allocated to metabolic cages and distributed in a 5 × 5 Latin square. Urine collection was taken daily on days 16 to 19 of each experimental period. The inclusion of peach palm meal linearly reduced the intake of dry matter (g kg BW−0.75, p = 0.005), crude protein (g kg BW−0.75, p = 0.010), metabolizable energy (MJ kg BW−0.75, p = 0.010) and CC (p < 0.0001). It also quadratically affected the urinary volume (p = 0.008) and DCE (p = 0.004). There was a linear decrease for PDC index (p = 0.032) and PDE (p < 0.0001) measured in the 24-h total urine with peach palm meal levels. The different times of spot urine sampling did not affect (p > 0.05) the PDC index and PDE. Peach palm meal decreases the CC thereby compromising the use of a mean value of DCE as a PDE marker in spot urine samples. There is greater accuracy when using different values of DCE obtained for each diet as markers for the PDE in spot urine samples. Unconventional foodstuffs of low palatability affecting the voluntary intake of feed change the renal function.