Effect of using a flax seed enriched concentrate on the fatty acid composition of omental fat in Pramenka lambs reared indoors.

This study was intended to determine the effect of adding flax seeds to a concentrate for lamb fattening on the fatty acid composition of the omental fat depot in Pramenka lambs reared indoors. A total of 63 lambs (10±3 kg of live body weight, 30±7 days of age, 30 males and 33 females) were used. They were divided into two groups: a control (CON) fed on hay, ewe's milk, and a 300-g daily ration of a commercial concentrate, and an experimental group (FS) fed on hay, ewe's milk and 300 g/day of the concentrate enriched with 5% of flax seeds. After a 60-day fattening period for each group, 10 lambs (5 males and 5 females) were selected and omental fat samples were analysed for fatty acid composition. Highly significant differences (p⟨0.001) were found between CON and FS in α-linolenic acid, the sum of n-3 fatty acids, and the ratio n-6/n-3 fatty acids. The effect of sex on the fatty acid content in the fat depot was only significant for C20:0 fatty acid (p⟨0.05).

Effects of two probiotic additives containing Bacillus spores on carcass characteristics, blood lipids and cecal volatile fatty acids in meat type chickens.

The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of two commercially available probiotic additives, containing Bacillus spores, on carcass and meat characteristics, serum lipids and concentration of cecal volatile fatty acids of meat type chickens. Birds were fed regular corn-soy meal based feed (control), supplemented with additive A, containing 1.6 × 10(6) spores per gram of feed of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis (group A) or additive B, containing the same concentration of Bacillus cereus var. toyoi spores (group B). One hundred and twenty birds (20 per replicate) were slaughtered at the age of 55 days. Results showed that birds in group B had higher (p < 0.05) final body weight compared to birds from group A and higher carcass weights and yield percentages compared with control. Breasts and whole legs were also heavier in group B, compared to control, but not the yield. Group A had higher yield of wings and lower abdominal fat weight compared to group B (p< 0.05), but not compared with control. Total cholesterol was not affected by the dietary treatment, on contrary both probiotics elevated the LDL (p < 0.05) and lowered HDL cholesterol, thus unfavourably changed animal's blood serum cholesterol profile. Both probiotics influenced the cecal fermentation, which was observed as decrease in cecal concentrations of propionic, butyric, n-butyric and n-valeric acids, but the differences compared to control group were statistically significant for group A only. It was established that probiotic additive B was more effective regarding carcass and meat part weights than additive A, however the animals from group B also had more abdominal fat and their meat had significantly higher conductivity than control group, which is not considered as beneficial.