Effects of Combinations of Dietary Vitamin C and Acetylsalicylic Acid on Growth Performance, Carcass Traits and, Serum and Immune Response Parameters in Broilers.

This study aimed to investigate the combined effects of ascorbic acid (VC) and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) on broiler health and performance. A total of 200 Ross 308 male broilers were divided into five groups, each receiving different dietary combinations of ASA and VC (ASA: 50 or 100 mg/kg; VC: 200 or 400 mg/kg). The 42-day trial assessed parameters such as feed intake, average daily gain (ADG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), carcass characteristics, serum parameters, immune response and cecal microbial flora. The results indicate significant treatment effects on feed intake and growth performance, with a higher feed intake of ADG and FCR in treatment groups (p < 0.05). Serum lipid parameters were unaffected, but creatine kinase increased with ASA and VC intake (p < 0.05). Changes in sheep red blood cell titers and influenza antibodies were noted (p < 0.05). The combination of ASA and VC positively influenced carcass traits, reducing abdominal fat and altering the ratio of immune response organs to body weight (p < 0.05). Additionally, the cecal E. coli count decreased with treatment (p < 0.05). This study underscores the intricate interactions between ASA and VC supplementation, growth performance and carcass composition and immune response in broilers. Further research is warranted to explore dosage nuances and variations under specific stress conditions.

Volatile compounds, gamma-glutamyl-peptides and free amino acids as biomarkers of long-ripened protected designation of origin Coppa Piacentina.

Coppa Piacentina is an Italian protected designation of origin (PDO) dry-cured product obtained from the muscle of pork neck and ripened for at least six months. Metabolomics- and volatilomics-based strategies, combined with a chemical characterization of free amino acids were applied to identify biomarkers of long-ripened Coppa Piacentina PDO. Long ripening induced a significantly increase of total free amino acids, mainly represented by glutamic acid, involved in the umami taste perception. Untargeted metabolomics, performed using UHPLC-HRMS, allowed to identify 32 putative gamma-glutamyl-peptides, known as main contributors to the kokumi taste. Unsupervised and supervised multivariate statistics observed a clear modification of these peptides over the ripening, with gamma-glutamyl-peptides which significantly increased in long-ripened samples. A volatilomics-based strategy, conducted with GCxGC-MS, was then performed, and 93 different compounds were identified, with aldehyde and ketones deriving from the lipid auto-oxidation which increased according to ripening.

Untargeted Metabolomics Combined with Sensory Analysis to Evaluate the Chemical Changes in Coppa Piacentina PDO during Different Ripening Times.

Ripening time is known to drive the chemical and sensory profiles of dry meat products, thus potentially affecting the final quality of the product. Starting from these background conditions, the aim of this work was to shed light, for the first time, on the chemical modifications of a typical Italian PDO meat product-namely, Coppa Piacentina-during ripening, to find correlations between its sensory quality and the biomarker compounds related to the progress of ripening. The ripening time (from 60 to 240 days) was found to deeply modify the chemical composition of this typical meat product, providing potential biomarkers of both oxidative reactions and sensory attributes. The chemical analyses revealed that there is typically a significant decrease in the moisture content during ripening, likely due to increased dehydration. In addition, the fatty acid profile showed that the distribution of polyunsaturated fatty acids significantly (p < 0.05) decreased during ripening, because of their high susceptibility to oxidation and conversion to intermediate and secondary molecules. An untargeted metabolomics approach, coupled with unsupervised and supervised multivariate statistics, highlighted a significant impact (prediction scores > 1) of lipid oxidation during ripening time, with some metabolites (such as γ -glutamyl-peptides, hydroperoxy-fatty acids, and glutathione) being particularly discriminant in predicting the changes observed. The discriminant metabolites were coherent with the progressive increase of peroxide values determined during the entire ripening period. Finally, the sensory analysis outlined that the highest degree of ripening provided greater color intensity of the lean part, slice firmness, and chewing consistency, with glutathione and γ-glutamyl-glutamic acid establishing the highest number of significant correlations with the sensory attributes evaluated. Taken together, this work highlights the importance and validity of untargeted metabolomics coupled with sensory analysis to investigate the comprehensive chemical and sensory changes to dry meat during ripening.

Electronic Nose for the Rapid Detection of Deoxynivalenol in Wheat Using Classification and Regression Trees.

Mycotoxin represents a significant concern for the safety of food and feed products, and wheat represents one of the most susceptible crops. To manage this issue, fast, reliable, and low-cost test methods are needed for regulated mycotoxins. This study aimed to assess the potential use of the electronic nose for the early identification of wheat samples contaminated with deoxynivalenol (DON) above a fixed threshold. A total of 214 wheat samples were collected from commercial fields in northern Italy during the periods 2014−2015 and 2017−2018 and analyzed for DON contamination with a conventional method (GC-MS) and using a portable e-nose "AIR PEN 3" (Airsense Analytics GmbH, Schwerin, Germany), equipped with 10 metal oxide sensors for different categories of volatile substances. The Machine Learning approach "Classification and regression trees" (CART) was used to categorize samples according to four DON contamination thresholds (1750, 1250, 750, and 500 µg/kg). Overall, this process yielded an accuracy of >83% (correct prediction of DON levels in wheat samples). These findings suggest that the e-nose combined with CART can be an effective quick method to distinguish between compliant and DON-contaminated wheat lots. Further validation including more samples above the legal limits is desirable before concluding the validity of the method.

Effect of Essential Oil of Thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) or Increasing Levels of a Commercial Prebiotic (TechnoMOS®) on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Male Broilers.

To investigate the effect of thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) essential oil (TEO) or increasing inclusion of a prebiotic (TechnoMOS®) on growth performance and carcass characteristics of Ross 308 broilers, 400 one-day-old male broilers (43.5 g, as mean of body weight) were placed in 20 pens (2.0 × 1.0 m, with a floor area of 0.10 m2 per bird) in groups of 20, and each pen cage was assigned to a specific dietary treatment (four replicates per each one). The dietary treatments included basic diet (no additive; CTR), basic diet including 0.025%, 0.075%, or 0.125% of TechnoMOS® (MOS025, MOS075, and MOS125, respectively), or basic diet including 0.075% thyme extract (TEO075). All dietary treatments were offered from the beginning of the study until the end of the trial. There were no effects of MOS or TEO on carcass characteristics. No significant effects of treatment on weight gain were obtained on a week-by-week basis; however, CTR birds gained less weight during the grower phase and overall compared with MOS birds. The same contrast for feed intake revealed that CTR birds had greater feed intake than MOS birds during both the grower phase and overall (492.18 g and 486.35 g, respectively). In conclusion, treated groups showed an improved feed conversion ratio.

Implications of Tributyrin on Gut Microbiota Shifts Related to Performances of Weaning Piglets.

Alternatives to antibiotic treatments are required owing to the ban on the use of these drugs as growth promoters in food animal production. Tributyrin appears to play a role in improving growth performance in pigs, albeit with varying degrees of effectiveness. So far, very little is known about its effects on gut microbiota composition. In this study, we investigated the gut microbiota changes of piglets receiving, at weaning, 0.2% tributyrin added to their basal diet. Microbiota composition was assessed through 16S-rRNA gene sequencing on stools collected from tributyrin and control groups. The functional profiles of microbial communities were predicted from amplicon abundance data. A comparison between dietary groups revealed that tributyrin strongly modulated gut microbiota composition in piglets, increasing the relative abundance of a number of bacterial genera such as Oscillospira, Oscillibacter, Mucispirillum and Butyrivibrio. These genera were positively correlated to animal average daily gain (ADG) and/or body weight (BW). Based on the function profile prediction, the gut microbiome of the tributyrin group possessed an enhanced potential for energy metabolism and a reduced potential for carbohydrate metabolism. In conclusion, our results indicated that tributyrin can promote changes to gut microbial communities, which could contribute to improving animal performance after weaning.

A mixture of quebracho and chestnut tannins drives butyrate-producing bacteria populations shift in the gut microbiota of weaned piglets.

Weaning is a critical period for piglets, in which unbalanced gut microbiota and/or pathogen colonisation can contribute to diseases that interfere with animal performance. Tannins are natural compounds that could be used as functional ingredients to improve gut health in pig farming thanks to their antibacterial, antioxidant, and antidiarrhoeal properties. In this study, a mixture of quebracho and chestnut tannins (1.25%) was evaluated for its efficacy in reducing the negative weaning effects on piglet growth. Microbiota composition was assessed by Illumina MiSeq 16S rRNA gene sequencing of DNA extracted from stools at the end of the trial. Sequence analysis revealed an increase in the genera Shuttleworthia, Pseudobutyrivibrio, Peptococcus, Anaerostipes, and Solobacterium in the tannin-supplemented group. Conversely, this dietary intervention reduced the abundance of the genera Syntrophococcus, Atopobium, Mitsuokella, Sharpea, and Prevotella. The populations of butyrate-producing bacteria were modulated by tannin, and higher butyrate concentrations in stools were detected in the tannin-fed pigs. Co-occurrence analysis revealed that the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to the families Veillonellaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Coriobacteriaceae occupied the central part of the network in both the control and the tannin-fed animals. Instead, in the tannin group, the OTUs belonging to the families Acidaminococcaceae, Alcaligenaceae, and Spirochaetaceae characterised its network, whereas Family XIII Incertae Sedis occupied a more central position than in the control group. Conversely, the presence of Desulfovibrionaceae characterised the network of the control group, and this family was not present in the network of the tannin group. Moreover, the prediction of metabolic pathways revealed that the gut microbiome of the tannin group possessed an enhanced potential for carbohydrate transport and metabolism, as well as a lower abundance of pathways related to cell wall/membrane/envelope biogenesis and inorganic ion transport. In conclusion, the tested tannins seem to modulate the gut microbiota, favouring groups of butyrate-producing bacteria.

Dietary Supplementation of Inorganic, Organic, and Fatty Acids in Pig: A Review.

Reduction of antibiotic use has been a hot topic of research over the past decades. The European ban on growth-promoter use has increased the use of feed additivities that can enhance animal growth performance and health status, particularly during critical and stressful phases of life. Pig farming is characterized by several stressful periods, such as the weaning phase, and studies have suggested that the proper use of feed additives during stress could prevent disease and enhance performance through modulation of the gastrointestinal tract mucosa and microbiome. The types of feed additive include acids, minerals, prebiotics, probiotics, yeast, nucleotides, and phytoproducts. This review focuses on commonly used acids, classified as inorganic, organic, and fatty acids, and their beneficial and potential effects, which are widely reported in the bibliography. Acids have long been used as feed acidifiers and preservatives, and were more recently introduced into feed formulated for young pigs with the goal of stabilizing the stomach pH to offset their reduced digestive capacity. In addition, some organic acids represent intermediary products of the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), and thus could be considered an energy source. Moreover, antimicrobial properties have been exploited to modulate microbiota populations and reduce pathogenic bacteria. Given these potential benefits, organic acids are no longer seen as simple acidifiers, but rather as growth promoters and potential antibiotic substitutes owing to their beneficial action on the gastrointestinal tract (GIT).

Effect of a low crude protein diet supplemented with different levels of threonine on growth performance, carcass traits, blood parameters, and immune responses of growing broilers.

A study was conducted to evaluate growth performance, carcass traits, blood serum parameters, and immune responses of Ross 308 male broilers fed diets containing 2 different crude protein (CP) levels (97.5 and 100%) and 4 threonine (Thr) levels (100, 110, 120, and 130% of Ross recommendations for starter and grower periods). A completely randomized block design was adopted and main effects (CP and Thr) were arranged in a 2 × 4 factorial approach. Optimum growth performance was achieved when broiler requirements for CP and Thr were 100% satisfied. The 110% Thr inclusion in 97.5% CP diet increased ADG, ADFI, energy intake, and protein intake (Thr, P < 0.01; quadratic, P = 0.01). The G:F (linear, P = 0.05) and energy efficiency (linear, P = 0.04) tended to decreased (Thr, P = 0.09) by increasing Thr supplementation level, whereas protein efficiency tended to increase (CP, P = 0.06) by reducing CP level. The 110% Thr inclusion in 97.5% CP diet increased eviscerated carcass weight (CP × Thr, P = 0.03) and carcass yield (Thr, P = 0.08; quadratic, P = 0.05). The reduction of CP content promoted fat abdominal deposition (CP, P = 0.05). Incremental Thr raised abdominal fat (Thr, P = 0.01; linear, P = 0.01). The 97.5% CP diets resulted in higher serum concentrations of uric acid (CP, P = 0.02), total and high- and low-density lipoprotein-linked cholesterol (CP, P≤ 0.01), and alanine aminotransferase (CP, P = 0.05) and lower (CP, P = 0.01) concentrations of triglycerides and very low density lipoproteins compared with the 100% CP diets. However, the Thr inclusion improved serum lipid profile. Irrespective of CP content, incremental Thr levels up to 120% increased (Thr, P = 0.01) broiler immune responses against Newcastle disease virus and sheep red blood cells. In order to reduce dietary CP content, strategies to increase synthetic amino acid availability, such as the use of encapsulated amino acids, should be taken into account.

Gut response induced by weaning in piglet features marked changes in immune and inflammatory response.

At weaning, piglets are exposed to many stressors, such as separation from the sow, mixing with other litters, end of lactational immunity, and a change in their environment and gut microbiota. The sudden change of feeding regime after weaning causes morphological and histological changes in the small intestine which are critical for the immature digestive system. Sixteen female piglets were studied to assess the effect of sorbic acid supplementation on the small intestine tissue transcriptome. At weaning day (T0, piglet age 28 days), four piglets were sacrificed and ileal tissue samples collected. The remaining 12 piglets were weighed and randomly assigned to different postweaning (T5, piglet age 33 days) diets. Diet A (n = 6) contained 5 g/kg of sorbic acid. In diet B (n = 6), the organic acids were replaced by barley flour. Total RNA was isolated and then hybridized to CombiMatrix CustomArray™ 90-K platform microarrays, screening about 30 K genes. Even though diet had no detectable effect on the transcriptome during the first 5 days after weaning, results highlighted some of the response mechanisms to the stress of weaning occurring in the piglet gut. A total of 205 differentially expressed genes were used for functional analysis using the bioinformatics tools BLAST2GO, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis 8.0, and Dynamic Impact Approach (DIA). Bioinformatic analysis revealed that apoptosis, RIG-I-like, and NOD-like receptor signaling were altered as a result of weaning. Interferons and caspases gene families were the most activated after weaning in response to piglets to multiple stressors. Results suggest that immune and inflammatory responses were activated and likely are a cause of small intestine atrophy as revealed by a decrease in villus height and villus/crypt ratio.

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and fatty acid composition of milk, curd and Grana Padano cheese in conventional and organic farming systems.

CLA levels and fatty acid composition were measured to compare the fat composition in organic bulk milk, destined to the production of Grana Padano cheese, with those produced by conventional system. The curds and Grana Padano cheeses were also analysed to evaluate the effects of the production technology on the CLA content. All analysed organic samples were characterized by higher annual means of CLA, vaccenic acid (TVA) and linolenic acid (LNA) in comparison with conventional samples (with P<0.05). Nevertheless, no particular effect of the production technology was seen on the CLA content. The animal diet appears to be the factor which has the highest effect on the CLA concentration in milk and milk products and an organic diet based on fresh or dried forage, that is rich in CLA precursory fatty acids, may improve the yield of fatty acids with beneficial effects on health.

Carnosic acid from rosemary extracts: a potential chemoprotective agent against aflatoxin B1. An in vitro study.

Since oxidative stress plays an important role in the toxicity mechanism of several mycotoxins such as aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), the use of natural or synthetic free radical scavengers could be a potential chemopreventive strategy. Carnosic acid (CA) is the major polyphenolic compound present in rosemary plants and it can also be found in sage leaves. Its free radical scavenging properties were tested with two chemical methods. It was found that it has good free radical scavenging capacity at pH 7.4. This study also found that a 24 h pre-treatment with 10, 20 and 30 microm CA led to a clear, dose-dependent protective effect on cell toxicity, reducing cell death induced by a 24 h exposure with 10 microm AFB1, respectively, by 16% (P < 0.05), 26% (P < 0.01) and 63% (P < 0.001). It was also found that a 24 h pre-treatment with 20 and 30 microm CA achieved a reduction of ROS levels, respectively, of 146% (P < 0.001) and 173% (P < 0.001) in HepG2 cells exposed to 10 microm AFB1 for 8 h. Moreover, in cells pre-incubated with 30 microm CA for 24 h the concentration of 8-OH-deoxyguanine decreased by 57% (P < 0.001) with respect to the cells exposed for 24 h to 10 microm AFB1 alone. The results obtained with the in vitro and chemical studies support the theory that AFB1 induced oxidative stress plays an important role in the cytotoxic mechanism of this mycotoxin. Furthermore these findings suggest a starting point for developing alimentary strategies in order to counteract the damage caused by AFB1 contamination in feed and food.