Feeding Preferences of the Italian Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus italicus Festa, 1925) in a Coastal Mediterranean Environment.

The present study was aimed to deepen the knowledge on diet and on feeding preferences of the Italian roe deer. The research was carried on in the Castelporziano Presidential Estate, a protected area of Latium coast. Quadrat method was used to assess plant frequency, whereas diet composition was determined by fecal micro-histological analysis. A total of 143 plant species were identified in the site and 109 of them were found in the feces of the Capreolus capreolus italicus. All over the year, most of the taxa were ingested in low percentages (≤5%) and the most utilized plant species were Quercus suber, Prunus spinosa, Rubia peregrina, and Crateaegus monogyna. Fagaceae and Rosaceae plant families represented the bulk of the diet and were positively selected. In addition, a positive selection on Fabaceae and Oleaceae families was found in wet season but not in dry one. In both periods the Italian roe deer showed a positive selection for deciduous woody plants and evergreen woody plants, instead avoided wild forbs and wild graminoids. Our results confirmed that this subspecies behaved as a generalist highly selective feeder.

Creating Public Awareness of How Goats Are Reared and Milk Produced May Affect Consumer Acceptability.

This study evaluated whether showing a video of the different ways of raising goats for milk affected consumer acceptability. Four combinations, 2 Videos (intensive [INT] and semiextensive [SEM] system) × 2 Milk Types (semiskimmed [S] and whole [W] milk), were evaluated by 70 habitual consumers of goat milk, who scored their liking and purchase intention during blind (B), expected (E), and informed (I) acceptability sessions. In the B session, consumers tasted both milk types without information. S samples were preferred over W samples. In the E session, SEM video created high expectations in terms of milk liking and purchase intent, whereas the opposite happened when showing INT video. In the I session, consumers showed a clear preference for combinations created using SEM video, regardless of milk type. W-SEM and S-INT were worse (negative disconfirmation) and better (positive disconfirmation) than expected, respectively. A complete assimilation toward expectations occurred only for S-INT. INT video adversely affected the acceptability of S samples. Concerning purchase intent, W-SEM and S-SEM were worse than expected, but the assimilation was complete only for S-SEM: SEM video increased purchase intent for S samples.

The role of cognitive styles and sociodemographic characteristics in consumer perceptions and attitudes toward nonhuman animal welfare.

Given the increasing importance of exploring consumers' concerns about the welfare of farmed animals, a survey questionnaire was designed to investigate the role of cognitive styles along with sociodemographic characteristics in consumers' perceptions about nonhuman animal welfare (AW) and their willingness to pay for animal-friendly products. The results revealed that the survey respondents were concerned about AW and had negative perceptions of the way animals were treated. They showed positive attitudes toward some actions to be taken for improving AW and strongly agreed to pay more for animal-friendly products. Consistent with previous studies, results revealed significant associations between sociodemographics and concern toward AW. However, some observed differences were highlighted by cognitive styles rather than by sociodemographic characteristics. These results indicate a significant link between cognitive styles and perceptions and attitudes toward AW, which may outweigh previously found sociodemographic differences and fuel the contemporary debate on AW.

Changes of DNA quality and meat physicochemical properties in bovine supraspinatus muscle during microwave heating.

BACKGROUND: The responses of foods to microwave exposure are usually evaluated only in terms of physicochemical properties, thus undervaluing the importance of DNA in an authentication process by methods based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In this study, the time effect of microwave heating on some meat physicochemical properties and DNA quality has been investigated. RESULTS: Cooking loss, instrumental colour, pH and other physicochemical parameters varied significantly during microwave cooking, reaching the lowest/highest values after 2.5 min of cooking. The exposure of meat to microwaves was found to affect characteristically the quality of extracted DNA (i.e. yield, purity and degradation). PCR products of both mitochondrial and nuclear regions were successfully observed in all samples. However, the band for large fragments became progressively fainter as treatment time increased. CONCLUSIONS: Microwave heating caused physicochemical changes in bovine supraspinatus muscle and influenced characteristically the yield and integrity of the extracted DNA, indicating that an accurate DNA quantification and a rational choice of the genes (i.e. mtDNA versus nDNA, fragment size, etc.) to be amplified are fundamental in an authentication process by PCR-based methods.