Supplementation of Water Spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) on the utilization of Mimosa pigra and Leucaena leucocephala leaf for in vitro fermentation.

Background and Aim: Ipomoea aquatica (Water Spinach) is the most potential for livestock growth performance, including chickens, pigs, cattle, and goats, especially in a tropical country like Cambodia. It is not only an alternative feed source but also one kind of supplemented feed for goat raising. Supplementation with Water Spinach in the utilization of low-quality tree foliage results in an increase in dry matter intake in goat production. This study aimed to identify the effectiveness of supplementation of Water Spinach in the utilization of Mimosa pigra and Leucaena leucocephala leaf in in vitro fermentation. Materials and Methods: The study was designed according to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement in randomized design of seven treatments with different ratios consisted of different three types of dietary treatments, including M. pigra, L. leucocephala, and Water Spinach. The treatments were arranged according to a completely randomized design and were as follow: T1 = M. pigra leaf (100%); T2 = L. leucocephala leaf (100%); T3 = M. pigra leaf and L. leucocephala leaf (50% and 50%); T4 = M. pigra leaf and Water Spinach (99.5% and 0.5%); T5 = L. leucocephala leaf and Water Spinach (99.5% and 0.5%); T6 = M. pigra leaf and Water Spinach (99% and 1%); and T7 = L. leucocephala leaf and Water Spinach (99% and 1%). A total of 200 mg (dry matter) of dietary treatments were prepared in a 60 mL syringe. Each treatment was replicated 3 time. Gas recording of each treatment lasted for 3 days. In vitro was performed for 72 h, was followed by Makkar method. Gas production was recorded at 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 36, 48, and 72 h of incubation by using strict anaerobic technique. A mixture of rumen fluid and dietary treatments were carried out under continuous flushing with CO2 in sharking incubator at 39°C. After incubating for 72 h, the ammonia concentration (NH3-N) was measured and recorded to identify pH, nutrient digestibility, and ammonia concentration (NH3-N). Results: Nutrient digestibility of the treatment with Water Spinach supplement in the utilization of L. leucocephala was obtained at a higher digestibility than treatment with M. pigra (p < 0.05). Gas production was different between groups (p < 0.05). Treatment with only M. pigra leaf had the highest gas production (A), while treatment with Water Spinach supplementation had the lowest gas production (A). At 0-24 h, the treatment with L. leucocephala leaf and Water Spinach 0.5% had the highest gas production, but after 24 h, M. pigra leaf and Water Spinach 1% and L. leucocephala leaf and Water Spinach 0.5% produced more gas compared to the other treatments (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The supplementation of Water Spinach 1% in treatment with M. pigra and L. leucocephala leaf resulted in increased degradability, gas production, and NH3-N concentration without a change in the pH value rumen condition. Based on these results, it is recommended that the level of Water Spinach supplementation should be 1% of dietary intake. Future studies should consider investigating the rumen ecology associated with Water Spinach supplementation. Feeding with Water Spinach remains a good supplement for ruminant performance; therefore, further studies should be conducted using Water Spinach in ruminant feeding in both metabolic and feeding trials.

Discovery of super-insecticide-resistant dengue mosquitoes in Asia: Threats of concomitant knockdown resistance mutations.

Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762) is the main mosquito vector for dengue and other arboviral infectious diseases. Control of this important vector highly relies on the use of insecticides, especially pyrethroids. The high frequency (>78%) of the L982W substitution was detected at the target site of the pyrethroid insecticide, the voltage-gated sodium channel (Vgsc) of A. aegypti collected from Vietnam and Cambodia. Alleles having concomitant mutations L982W + F1534C and V1016G + F1534C were also confirmed in both countries, and their frequency was high (>90%) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Strains having these alleles exhibited substantially higher levels of pyrethroid resistance than any other field population ever reported. The L982W substitution has never been detected in any country of the Indochina Peninsula except Vietnam and Cambodia, but it may be spreading to other areas of Asia, which can cause an unprecedentedly serious threat to the control of dengue fever as well as other Aedes-borne infectious diseases.

Production Performance and Nutrient Conversion Efficiency of Field Cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus) in Mass-Rearing Conditions.

Currently, there is an increased interest in mass producing edible insects, e.g., field crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus), due to their market value and sustainable development. The current study aimed to measure the production performance of field crickets and to quantify the major nutrient deposition rate using a new approach for a nutrient conversion efficiency calculation for the field crickets under mass-rearing conditions. The field crickets were reared under mass-rearing conditions in the rearing crates and fed with a commercial cricket feed. Measurements for daily feed offered, final body weight, and dead cricket quantity were carried out during the feeding trial period. There were three production rounds with the same procedure for farmed cricket management. The samples of diet, adult crickets, and dead crickets were collected and then analyzed for chemical analysis of macronutrients. The production performance and nutrient conversion efficiency were calculated and then compared with applicable earlier reports for both field and house (Acheta domesticus) crickets. The production performance for the studied field crickets under mass-rearing conditions had final a body weight, an average daily gain (ADG), a feed conversion ratio (FCR), and a survival rate of 0.95 g, 23.20 mg/day, 2.94 and 88.51%, respectively. The field crickets had nutrient conversion efficiency for dry matter (DM), ash, crude protein (CP), crude fat (EE), crude fiber (CF), and nitrogen-free extract (NFE) of 13.26, 8.03, 28.95, 88.94, 34.87, and 1.85, respectively, with an adjusted nutrient conversion efficiency of 14.85, 8.99, 32.37, 99.17, 38.95, and 2.10, respectively. Thus, the production of field crickets could be performed under mass-rearing conditions, and the nutrient conversion efficiency for both adjusted and non-adjusted values could be measured.