Effect of the dietary inclusion of Camelina sativa cake into quail diet on live performance, carcass traits, and meat quality.

The present research studied the effect of the dietary inclusion of 3 different camelina (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz) cakes on the live performance, slaughter traits, and breast meat quality of broiler quails (Coturnix japonica). With this purpose, a total of 480 fifteen-day-old broiler quails of both sexes were allocated to 48 cages (12 replicates/treatment, 10 quails/replicate) and received 4 dietary treatments: a control diet (Control), and 3 diets containing 15% of 1 commercial cultivar (Calena), and 2 improved lines (Pearl: low linoleic acid; Alan: low glucosinolates). During the experiment, individual live weight (LW) and cage feed intake were recorded to calculate body weight gain (BWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR). At 35 d of age, quails were slaughtered, and carcasses were weighed and dissected to compute yields. On breast (pectoralis major muscle) the measurements and analyses considered ultimate pH, L*a*b* color values, proximate composition, oxidative status, cooking loss and WBSF toughness. Broiler quails receiving diets with camelina cakes exhibited mortality and health status similar to the control. However, growth performance was impaired in camelina-fed groups, especially for Calena (P < 0.05). Overall LW and BWG were slightly lower, whereas feed intake was slightly higher in camelina-fed groups compared to Control (P > 0.05). Therefore, higher FCR was recorded for camelina-fed groups compared to Control (P = 0.0004). Moreover, breast meat from Calena treatment displayed higher water (P = 0.0170), and lower lipid (P = 0.0051) contents compared to those of the Control group, while protein and ash content remained unaffected. Heme-iron content and oxidative status of breast meat were not influenced by the dietary incorporation of camelina (P > 0.05). The research outcomes indicated that camelina cakes can be used as an alternative feed ingredient for broiler quails' diets, without compromising carcass yields and meat quality. However, as 15% dietary incorporation worsened live performance, the ideal camelina cake inclusion level should be thoroughly investigated as well as a parallel research effort into further reducing glucosinolates content of camelina.

Long-term administration of a commercial supplement enriched with bioactive compounds does not affect feed intake, health status, and growth performances in beef cattle.

Feed additives including natural bioactive compounds (BCs) in combination with vitamin E (VitE) and organic Se could mitigate animal stress associated with intensive livestock farming due to their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Yeast and yeast derivate are included in feed additives as probiotic products and digestion promoters. Scutellaria baicalensis is a source of bioactive compounds and has been tested in monogastrics, exhibiting many immunostimulating and hepato-protective activities. However, the literature lacks information regarding S. baicalensis effects on beef cattle performance and health status. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact on beef cattle's feed intake, health and oxidative status, and growth performances of the inclusion of a commercial supplement (CS) containing VitE, organic Se, yeast derivate, and S. baicalensis extract during the fattening and finishing period. A total of 143 Charolaise male cattle were allotted into 12 pens of 11-12 animals each and assigned to a control ( 463.9 ± 21.48 body weight - BW) or a treated ( 469.8 ± 17.91  BW) group. Each group included two replicates of three pens. The treated groups were supplemented with 20  g CS animal - 1 d - 1 . Feed intake was measured monthly on a pen base during two consecutive days. Total mixed ration and fecal samples were collected at three time points (monthly, from November to February) and pooled by replicate for the analyses to monitor digestibility. Blood samples were individually collected at the beginning and at the end of the trial for oxidative status and metabolic profile determination. Final BW and carcass weight were individually recorded to calculate average daily gain, feed conversion ratio, and carcass yield. Similar feed digestibility between groups were observed during the whole experiment. Feed intake, growth performances, final body weight, average daily gain, feed conversion rate, oxidative status, and metabolic profile were not affected by the dietary inclusion of the tested CS indicating no detrimental effect of the treatment. Different doses of this product should be tested in the future in order to provide a more complete report on the product efficacy.

The Role of Quarantine on Post-Mortem Performances of Charolaise Young Bulls.

Biosecurity is essential to prevent the spread of diseases in livestock animals such as the bovine respiratory disease which can lead to negative effects on growth performance, and carcass and meat quality, as well as to an increase of antimicrobial use. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the quarantine on post-mortem performances (hot carcass weight, dressing percentage, pH 60 min after slaughtering, carcass SEUROP conformation, and fat cover) of 576 Charolaise young bulls imported from France and fattened in specialized Italian farms. Approximately half of the animals followed a standard fattening procedure without initial quarantine upon arrival to Italy (NO-QUA) and the other half underwent a 30-day period of quarantine (QUA) since their arrival to the farm. Post-mortem performances and parenteral administration of antimicrobial use were recorded. NO-QUA animals had lower average daily gain and slaughter weight but scored higher for carcass SEUROP evaluation and pH than QUA animals (p < 0.05). NO-QUA received more than double the number of parenteral antimicrobial treatments than QUA animals for respiratory diseases (139 vs. 56). Overall, quarantine applied on-farm contributes to improve post-mortem performances while reducing antimicrobial use in beef production.

Handheld near-infrared spectrometer allows on-line prediction of beef quality traits.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of a miniaturized near-infrared spectrometer to predict chemical parameters, technological and quality traits, fatty acids and minerals in intact Longissimus thoracis and Trapezius obtained from the ribs of 40 Charolais cattle. Modified partial least squares regression analysis to correlate spectra information to reference values, and several scatter correction and mathematical treatments have been tested. Leave-one-out cross-validation results showed that the handheld instrument could be used to obtain a good prediction of moisture and an approximate quantitative prediction of fat or protein contents, a*, b*, shear force and purge loss with coefficients of determination above 0.66. Moreover, prediction models were satisfactory for proportions of MUFA, PUFA, oleic and palmitic acids, for Fe and Cu contents. Overall, results exhibited the usefulness of the on-line miniaturized tool to predict some beef quality traits and the possibility to use it with commercial cuts without sampling, carcass deterioration nor grinding and consequent meat products' loss.

Covid-19 pandemic effects on food safety - Multi-country survey study.

This study provides an important insight into the response of food safety systems during the first months of the pandemic, elevating the perspective of preventing Covid-19 within conventional food safety management systems. A multi-country survey was conducted in 16 countries involving 825 food companies. Based on the results of the survey, it is obvious that the level of maturity of a food safety system in place is the main trigger in classifying companies and their responses to the pandemic challenge. Staff awareness and hygiene are the two most important attributes in combating Covid-19, opposed to temperature checking of workers in food establishment and health protocols from the World Health Organization, recognized as attributes with limited salience and importance. Companies confirmed implementation of more restrictive hygiene procedures during the pandemic and the need for purchasing more additional personal protective equipment. Retailers were identified as the food supply chain link mostly affected by the pandemic opposed to food storage facilities ranked as least affected. During this challenging period, all companies declared that food safety has not been compromised at any moment. It is important to note that less than a half of the food companies had documented any emergency plans associated with pandemics and health issues in place.

Are Meat Quality Traits and Sensory Attributes in Favor of Slow-Growing Chickens?

The present study compared certain quality features and sensory attributes of the meat obtained from three different chicken genotypes: two endangered slow-growing indigenous breeds (Padovana: PAD, Polverara: POL) and a commercial broiler (Hybrid). Chickens (n = 42/genotype) were slaughtered at their commercial slaughter age: 183 days for PAD and POL chickens, and 35 days for the Hybrid. Breast and leg meat were dissected and used for qualitative evaluations. Results highlighted that genotype significantly affected final breast weight, with Hybrid showing higher values than both indigenous chickens. Conversely, PAD and POL meat was instrumentally tougher and richer in haem iron compared to the Hybrid. The sensory analysis conducted by a trained panel showed that the textural aspects and metallic flavor perception of PAD and POL meat differed from that of the Hybrid. These aspects were probably responsible for the lower overall acceptability of the PAD and POL meat compared to the Hybrid, as expressed by the consumer panel. A key step in making PAD and POL meat acceptable to consumers and stimulating its market seems thus the development of appropriate marketing strategies to transform product peculiarities in strength points.

Fatty Acid Composition of Lamb Liver, Muscle, And Adipose Tissues in Response to Rumen-Protected Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) Supplementation Is Tissue Dependent.

The tissue-specific response to rumen-protected conjugated linoleic acid supply (rpCLA) of liver, two muscles, and three adipose tissues of heavy lambs was studied. Twenty-four lambs, 8 months old, divided into 4 groups of 6, were fed at libitum on a ration supplemented without or with a mixture of rpCLA. Silica and hydrogenated soybean oil was the rpCLA coating matrix. The lambs were slaughtered at 11 months of age. Tissues were collected and analyzed for their FA profiles. The dietary rpCLA supplement had no influence on carcass fatness nor on the fat content of the liver and tissues and had little influence on the FA profiles of these tissues. In the adipose tissues, rpCLA increased the proportions of saturated FAs, 18:0 and 18:2t10c12, and decreased the proportions of monounsaturated FAs in the adipose tissues. In muscles, the effects were the opposite. The results suggest that Δ9 desaturase activity is inhibited by the rpCLA mixture in adipose tissues to a greater extent than in the other tissues.

Determination by GC×GC of fatty acid and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) isomer profiles in six selected tissues of lambs fed on pasture or on indoor diets with and without rumen-protected CLA.

In this study GC×GC was used to study the effects of pasture, hay, concentrate (indoor), and indoor plus 8 g/day of a rumen-protected conjugated linoleic acid (indoor-CLA) diets on the detailed fatty acid (FA) profiles of six tissues (muscles, fatty tissues, and liver) collected from 36 lambs. This powerful technique allowed the quantification of 128 FAs, of which 21 SFAs, 16 MUFAs, 19 PUFAs were identified by reference standards. The diets had similar, but not identical, effects on FA profiles (g/100 g FA) in the various tissues, as both indoor diets reduced total PUFAs (from 8.91 ± 6.27 to 8.06 ± 5.97; p < 0.05) and n-3 PUFAs (from 2.70 ± 2.37 to 1.50 ± 1.69; p < 0.01) and increased n-6 PUFA (from 3.76 ± 2.46 to 4.58 ± 3.42; p < 0.01), branched (from 2.37 ± 2.05 to 3.23 ± 0.54; p < 0.01), odd-chain FAs (from 5.88 ± 5.33 to 7.07 ± 1.51; p < 0.01) compared to pasture. Indoor-CLA increased CLAc9,t11 (from 0.42 ± 0.13 to 0.53 ± 0.19; p < 0.01), CLAt10,c12 (from 0.07 ± 0.06 to 0.12 ± 0.22; p < 0.05), and CLAc11,t13 (from 0.02 ± 0.04 to 0.05 ± 0.04; p < 0.05) compared to indoor.