Improving feed intake and rumen fermentation in lambs using mixed-dimensional attapulgite clay to adsorb naturally occurring mycotoxins.

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of including a mixed-dimensional attapulgite clay (MDA) into a naturally moldly diet for Hu lambs. Fifty male Hu lambs with similar initial body weight (28.24 ±â€…1.80 kg) were randomly allocated into five dietary treatments: a basal diet containing naturally occurring mycotoxins with 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 kg/t MDA, and basal diet with a commercial mycotoxin adsorbent Solis with montmorillonite as the major component at 1 kg/t. Both MDA and Solis increased average daily gain (ADG) and dry matter intake (DMI; P ≤ 0.004), and there was no difference in growth performance between MDA and Solis (P ≥ 0.26). The final body weight, DMI, and ADG were linearly increased with increasing MDA supplementation (P < 0.01). Lambs treated with both MDA and Solis demonstrated greater apparent digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), and energy compared with the control group (P ≤ 0.03), and there were no differences in nutrient digestibilities between MDA and Solis (P ≥ 0.38). Digestibility of CP was linearly increased with the increasing MDA supplementation (P = 0.01). Neither MDA nor Solis affected rumen total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) concentration (P ≥ 0.39), but decreased the acetate-to-propionate ratio and molar proportion of n-butyrate (P ≤ 0.01), and MDA also increased the concentration of ammonia (P = 0.003). Besides, increasing MDA supplementation linearly reduced the acetate-to-propionate ratio and molar proportion of n-butyrate (P = 0.01), but linearly and quadratically increased the concentration of ammonia (P ≥ 0.003). These results showed that the incorporation of MDA into a naturally moldy diet of Hu lambs yielded comparable results to the Solis product, with higher growth performance and nutrient digestibility but lower acetate-to-propionate ratio observed. In conclusion, including ≥ 1 kg/t of MDA in high mycotoxin risk diets for growing lambs improves feed intake and rumen fermentation.

The issue of mycotoxin-contaminated animal feed has consistently presented a significant challenge in relation to animal health and production. The mixed-dimensional attapulgite clay (MDA) has been proven effective in binding polar mycotoxins such as aflatoxin, while also effectively adsorbing hydrophobic or weakly polar mycotoxins such as zearalenone (ZEN) and ochratoxin. Therefore, this study was undertaken to assess the impact of MDA inclusion in mycotoxin-contaminated diets on performance and rumen fermentation variables in lambs. The results indicated that MDA not only significantly improved the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of Hu lambs but also enhanced the molar proportion of propionate and ammonia concentration, and reduced the acetate to propionate ratio and the molar proportion of n-butyrate.

Preparation of Hybrid Nanopigments with Excellent Environmental Stability, Antibacterial and Antioxidant Properties Based on Monascus Red and Sepiolite by One-Step Grinding Process.

This study is focused on the preparation, characterization, and multifunctional properties of intelligent hybrid nanopigments. The hybrid nanopigments with excellent environmental stability and antibacterial and antioxidant properties were fabricated based on natural Monascus red, surfactant, and sepiolite via a facile one-step grinding process. The density functional theory calculations demonstrated that the surfactants loaded on sepiolite were in favor of enhancing the electrostatic, coordination, and hydrogen bonding interactions between Monascus red and sepiolite. Thus, the obtained hybrid nanopigments exhibited excellent antibacterial and antioxidant properties, with an inhibition effect on Gram-positive bacteria that was superior to that of Gram-negative bacteria. In addition, the scavenging activity on DPPH and hydroxyl free radicals as well as the reducing power of hybrid nanopigments were higher than those of hybrid nanopigments prepared without the addition of the surfactant. Inspired by nature, gas-sensitive reversible alochroic superamphiphobic coatings with excellent thermal and chemical stability were successfully designed by combining hybrid nanopigments and fluorinated polysiloxane. Therefore, intelligent multifunctional hybrid nanopigments have great application foreground in related fields.

Incorporation of silver nanoparticles/curcumin/clay minerals into chitosan film for enhancing mechanical properties, antioxidant and antibacterial activity.

It is popular that natural organics are served as green reducing and end-capping reagent for synthesis of functional nanoparticles. In this study, curcumin, a natural pigment, was employed to prepare silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as a coloring, reducing and end-capping agent by an eco-friendly, economic and facile approach in the presence of different clay minerals, including palygorskite, montmorillonite and mixed-dimensional palygorskite clay. It was found that the phenolic hydroxyl groups or carbonyl groups of curcumin played a crucial role to reduce silver ions into AgNPs with the ginger color. Meanwhile, incorporation of clay minerals could induce the in-situ heterogeneous nucleation of AgNPs on the surface or/and interlayer of the involved clay minerals. It effectively prevented from the aggregations and resulted in uniform dispersion of AgNPs with a diameter of 30-40 nm. Furthermore, the as-prepared nanocomposites exhibited a higher antioxidant (>90%) and antibacterial activity. Due to the synergistic effect of each component among the nanocompositions, the nanocomposites derived from different clay minerals were employed as multifunctional nanofillers to design functional chitosan composite films. By contrast, the chitosan composite films containing curcumin-capped AgNPs/mixed-dimensional palygorskite clay nanocomposites exhibited the best mechanical properties, antioxidant and antibacterial activities. Compared with the chitosan films, the tensile strength and elongation at break of composite films increased by 15.90 MPa and 27.27%, respectively. The inactivation rate of the composite films against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus had reached 100%. Therefore, the obtained composite film with the ginger color exhibited excellent mechanical, water resistance, antioxidant and antibacterial properties, and it was expected to develop a great potential functional packaging materials.

Scale-up disaggregation of palygorskite crystal bundles via ultrasonic process for using as potential drilling fluid.

High-efficient disaggregation of palygorskite (PAL) crystal aggregates into individual nanorods is the key to exploiting its nanometer properties, which remains a challenge at present. The sonochemical cavitation effects have been successfully employed for the intensification of physical and chemical processing applications, but it still lacks the relevant study on the scale-up disaggregation of PAL crystal bundles. Here, the energy-efficient, scale-up ultrasonic process was developed to disaggregate PAL aggregates in batches, and the effects of ultrasonic treatment time, temperature, and power on physicochemical features of PAL were systematically investigated. The results showed that the single dispersed PAL nanorods could be continuously produced by sonicating 15 wt% of PAL suspension at 20 kHz, 2000 W and 30 °C for 5 min retaining the original nanorod length and layered-chain structure. It also greatly improved the dispersion of nanorod crystal, specific surface area and suspension stability of PAL. The ultrasonically disaggregated PAL has a higher pulping rate in water (14.96 m3/t) and saturated NaCl system (14.45 m3/t), which is significantly better than that of natural PAL in water (14.72 m3/t) and saturated NaCl solution (12.37 m3/t). It suggests that the disaggregated PAL exhibits excellent potential and adaptability as a viscosity enhancer for drilling fluid. Therefore, this work provides a feasible and efficient ultrasonic process for large-scale industrialized disaggregation of PAL crystal bundles, laying a foundation for the high-value utilization of natural PAL as one-dimensional nanomaterials.

Incorporation of Different Metal Ion for Tuning Color and Enhancing Antioxidant Activity of Curcumin/Palygorskite Hybrid Materials.

Curcumin is one of the dietary dyes extracted from turmeric and used for prevention and treatment of various illnesses. However, the low bioavailability and poor stability of curcumin limits its relevant applications. Therefore, different metal ions including Cu2+, Zn2+, Mg2+, Al3+, or Fe3+ were incorporated to tune the color, enhance the environmental stability and antioxidant activity of curcumin in the presence of palygorskite in this study. The as-prepared samples were studied using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Zeta potential, and transmission electron microscopy. In addition, the density functional theory calculation was also performed to explore the possible interaction among metal ions, curcumin and palygorskite. It was found that the color changing and stability enhancing were ascribed to the curcumin-metal ions coordination as well as chemical interactions between curcumin-metal complex and palygorskite. Moreover, the as-prepared composites showed more excellent color, thermal stability, antioxidant activity, and fluorescence properties than that of the curcumin/palygorskite composites due to the presence of metal ions. The finding of this investigation may contribute to developing the multifunctional composites with different colors and good antioxidant activity for relevant applications based on curcumin and palygorskite.

Palygorskite-Based Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Nanocomposite for Enhanced Antibacterial Activities.

A synergistic antibacterial strategy is effective in enhancing the antibacterial efficacy of a single antibacterial material. Plant essential oils (PEOs) are safe antibacterial agents. However, some of their characteristics such as intense aroma, volatility, and poor thermal stability limit their antibacterial activity and applications. In this paper, five kinds of PEOs were incorporated onto ZnO/palygorskite (ZnO/PAL) nanoparticles by a simple adsorption process to form organic-inorganic nanocomposites (PEOs/ZnO/PAL) with excellent antibacterial properties. TEM and SEM analyses demonstrated that ZnO nanoparticles uniformly anchored onto the surface of rod-like PAL, and that the structure of ZnO/PAL maintained after the incorporation of ZnO nanoparticles and PEOs. It was found that carvacrol/ZnO/palygorskite (CAR/ZnO/PAL) exhibited higher antibacterial activities than other PEOs/ZnO/PAL nanocomposites, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 0.5 mg/mL and 1.5 mg/mL against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), respectively. Moreover, the antibacterial efficiency of CAR/ZnO/PAL nanocomposites was superior to that of ZnO/PAL and pure CAR, demonstrating the synergistic effect that occurs in the combined system. PAL serving as a carrier for the combination of organic PEOs and ZnO nanoparticles is an effective strategy for enhanced, clay-based, organic-inorganic hybrid antibacterial nanocomposites.

Development of porous material via chitosan-based Pickering medium internal phase emulsion for efficient adsorption of Rb+, Cs+ and Sr2.

The radioactive Rb+, Cs+ and Sr2+ have serious threat for the aquatic life and human health, its removal has been granted increasing concern. Hence the adsorbent with excellent adsorption performance and favourable reusability is strongly demanded. This work prepared a novel porous polymer of chitosan-g-polyacrylamide (CTS-g-PAM) by grafting the acrylamide (AM) onto the chitosan (CTS) with sufficient pore structure via an eco-friendly surfactant-free (corn oil)-in-water Pickering medium internal phase emulsion (O/W Pickering MIPE), solely stabilized by CTS. Interestingly, its pore structure could be tuned by varying the emulsion character via changing the molecular weight and concentration of CTS, as well as the pH values. Due to the abundant -COO- and -NH2 functional groups in the porous material of CTS-g-PAM, the high adsorption capacities of 195.43, 237.44 and 185.63 mg/g for Rb+, Cs+ and Sr2+ could be reached within 40, 30 and 20 min, respectively. Moreover, the CTS-g-PAM had excellent regeneration ability and reusability. Herein, we provided a feasible and low-cost pathway for preparation of the porous adsorbent with tunable porous structure for adsorption and separation application.

Fast and Highly Efficient Adsorption Removal of Toxic Pb(II) by a Reusable Porous Semi-IPN Hydrogel Based on Alginate and Poly(Vinyl Alcohol).

A porous semi-interpenetrating network (semi-IPN) hydrogel adsorbent with excellent adsorption properties and removal efficiency towards Pb(II) was prepared by a facile grafting polymerization reaction in aqueous medium using natural biopolymer sodium alginate (SA) as the main chains, sodium acrylate (NaA) as the monomers, and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as the semi-IPN component. FTIR, TGA and SEM analyses confirm that NaA monomers were grafted onto the macromolecular chains of SA, and PVA chains were interpenetrated and entangled with the crosslinked network. The incorporation of PVA facilitates to form pores on the surface of hydrogel adsorbent. The semi-IPN hydrogel containing 2 wt% of PVA exhibits high adsorption capacity and fast adsorption rate for Pb(II). The best adsorption capacity reaches 784.97 mg/g, and the optimal removal rate reaches 98.39% (adsorbent dosage, 2 g/L). In addition, the incorporation of PVA improved the gel strength of hydrogel, and the storage modulus of hydrogel increased by 19.4% after incorporating 2 wt% of PVA. The increase of gel strength facilitates to improve the reusability of hydrogel. After 5 times of regeneration, the adsorption capacity of SA-g-PNaA decreased by 23.2%, while the adsorption capacity of semi-IPN hydrogel only decreased by 10.8%. The adsorption kinetics of the hydrogel in the initial stage (the moment when the adsorbent contacts solution) and the second stage are fitted by segmentation. It is intriguing that the adsorption kinetics fits well with both pseudo-second-order kinetic model and pseudo-first-order model before 60 s, while only fits well with pseudo-second-order adsorption model in the whole adsorption process. The chemical complexing adsorption mainly contribute to the efficient capturing of Pb(II).

Multifunctional palygorskite@ZnO nanorods enhance simultaneously mechanical strength and antibacterial properties of chitosan-based film.

A general and effective strategy was developed for improving simultaneously the mechanical strength and antibacterial performance of biopolymer-based films. The well-dispersed zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were in-situ loaded on non-toxic natural palygorskite (PAL) nanorod to form an antibacterial PAL@ZnO composite nanorod, which can be embedded into chitosan/gelatin (CS/GL) film to produce the composite films with noticeably enhanced mechanical properties and antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli bacteria (inhibition zones are 21.82 ± 0.95 mm and 16.36 ± 1.64 mm, respectively). The toughness of films enhances to 35.13 ± 0.95 MPa and the moisture uptake decreases to 23.74 ± 0.02% after embedding 3% and 9% of PAL@ZnO, respectively. In addition, incorporating PAL@ZnO nanorods also significantly enhanced the water resistance, and thermal stability of film. This work provides an alternative way for the development of antibacterial films with potential applications in many fields such as food packing.

Fabrication of Eco-Friendly Betanin Hybrid Materials Based on Palygorskite and Halloysite.

Eco-friendly betanin/clay minerals hybrid materials with good stability were synthesized by combining with adsorption, grinding, and heating treatment using natural betanin extracted from beetroot and natural 2:1 type palygorskite or 1:1 type halloysite. After incorporation of clay minerals, the thermal stability and solvent resistance of natural betanin were obviously enhanced. Due to the difference in the structure of palygorskite and halloysite, betanin was mainly adsorbed on the outer surface of palygorskite or halloysite through hydrogen-bond interaction, but also part of them also entered into the lumen of Hal via electrostatic interaction. Compared with palygorskite, hybrid materials prepared with halloysite exhibited the better color performance, heating stability and solvent resistance due to the high loading content of betanin and shielding effect of lumen of halloysite.

Hydrothermal Fabrication of Spindle-Shaped ZnO/Palygorskite Nanocomposites Using Nonionic Surfactant for Enhancement of Antibacterial Activity.

In order to improve the antibacterial performance of natural palygorskite, spindle-like ZnO/palygorskite (ZnO/PAL) nanocomposites with controllable growth of ZnO on the surface of PAL were prepared in the presence of non-ionic surfactants using an easy-to-operate hydrothermal method. The obtained ZnO/PAL nanocomposites have a novel and special spindle-shaped structure and good antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and are also low cost. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of ZnO/PAL nanocomposites toward E. coli and S. aureus reached 1.5 and 5 mg/mL, respectively.

A Comparative Study on Color Stability of Anthocyanin Hybrid Pigments Derived from 1D and 2D Clay Minerals.

Anthocyanin extracted from the fresh blue berry fruits was loaded onto different clay minerals including one-dimensional tubular halloysite and fibrous sepiolite, and two-dimensional lamellar kaolinite and montmorillonite to fabricate reversible allochroic hybrid pigments. The effect of the possible interaction mechanism between anthocyanin and clay minerals on the color stability of hybrid pigments was investigated. Due to the difference in the structures and properties of clay minerals, natural anthocyanin was inclined to be absorbed on the surface and intercalated into the interlayer of 2:1 type layered montmorillonite, while it was mainly anchored on the surface of 1:1 type kaolinite and halloysite. By contrast, it was simultaneously loaded on the surface and confined into the nanochannels and/or grooves of 2:1 type chain-layered sepiolite. Interestingly, the resulting hybrid pigments presented good thermal stability and resistance to chemical reagents, as well as reversible gas-sensitive allochroic behavior in HCl or NH3 gases, especially anthocyanin/sepiolite hybrid pigments due to the shielding effect of the well-defined nanochannels and grooves of sepiolite. Based on this color-change behavior, a simple pH test paper was also prepared with obvious color change at different pH values by coating the filter paper with anthocyanin/sepiolite hybrid pigments.

The protective effects of modified palygorskite on the broilers fed a purified zearalenone-contaminated diet.

This study was conducted to evaluate the protective effects of dietary modified palygorskite (Pal) supplementation on broiler chickens fed a purified zearalenone (ZEN)-contaminated diet. A total of 144 1-day-old male chicks were allocated to one of the 3 treatments, with each treatment being composed of 6 replicates of 8 birds each. The birds were fed with a control diet (Control group), the ZEN-contaminated diet (2.0 mg ZEN/kg diet), and the ZEN-contaminated diet supplemented with 1.0 g/kg diet of modified Pal for 42 d, respectively. Compared with control group, feeding ZEN-contaminated diet reduced weight gain and feed conversion efficiency of broilers during the finisher and overall experimental period (P < 0.05), while the values of these parameters in broilers fed the diet contaminated with ZEN increased after modified Pal administration (P < 0.05). ZEN challenge increased the 21-d serum aspartate aminotransferase and 42-d serum alanine aminotransferase activities, 42-d relative liver weight, and ZEN residues in the liver at both 21 and 42 d and kidney at 42 d (P < 0.05). In contrast, birds fed the ZEN-contaminated diet that was supplemented with modified Pal exhibited lower serum alanine aminotransferase activity at 42 d, relative liver weight at 42 d, and hepatic and renal ZEN accumulation at both 21 and 42 d (P < 0.05), when compared with their counterparts fed the contaminated diet. ZEN contamination decreased superoxide dismutase activity in the serum at 21 d, kidney at 42 d, and liver at both 21 and 42 d, respectively (P < 0.05). The hepatic and renal malondialdehyde accumulation at 42 d increased, while renal glutathione level at 42 d decreased, when feeding broilers with the ZEN-contaminated diet (P < 0.05). Dietary modified Pal supplementation reduced hepatic malondialdehyde accumulation, whereas increased renal superoxide dismutase activity in broilers fed a ZEN-contaminated diet at 42 d (P < 0.05). This finding suggested that dietary modified Pal administration could promote growth performance, reduce hepatonephric ZEN residues, and improve liver function and antioxidant status of broiler chickens receiving a ZEN-contaminated diet.

Effects of palygorskite composites on growth performance and antioxidant status in broiler chickens.

This work aimed to investigate the effects of the palygorskite (PAL) composites on the growth performance and antioxidant status in broiler chickens. A total of 192 one-day-old Ross 308 broilers were randomly divided into 3 treatment groups. Broilers were fed basal diets supplemented with either 50 mg/kg chlortetracycline (CTC group), 1 g/kg ZnO/PAL (ZnO/PAL group), or 1 g/kg chitooligosaccharides/ZnO/PAL (COS/ZnO/PAL group), respectively. The results showed that PAL composites were found to exhibit similar effects on growth performance as CTC (P > 0.05). ZnO/PAL and COS/ZnO/PAL enhanced the activity of serum glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) compared with CTC both at 21 and 42 d (P < 0.05). Compared with the CTC group, COS/ZnO/PAL enhanced serum catalase (CAT) activity at 21 d (P < 0.05), and decreased serum malondialdehyde (MDA) content at 42 d (P < 0.05). Compared with the CTC group, ZnO/PAL decreased duodenal mucous MDA content at 21 d, while ZnO/PAL did not affect activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and GSH-Px in the duodenum (P > 0.05). The duodenal mucous activities of SOD and GSH-Px were the highest in the COS/ZnO/PAL group at 42 d (P < 0.05). At 21 d, broilers in the COS/ZnO/PAL group had the lowest MDA content and the highest total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) in the jejunum (P < 0.05). Palygorskite composites decreased ileum mucous MDA content compared with CTC treated broilers at 21 d (P < 0.05). At 42 d, ileum mucous T-AOC was increased both in the ZnO/PAL and COS/ZnO/PAL groups compared with the CTC group (P < 0.05). The ileum mucous GSH-Px activities both in the ZnO/PAL and COS/ZnO/PAL groups were increased compared with the CTC group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the broilers given the basal diet supplemented with the PAL composites exhibited similar growth performance to their counterparts in the AGP group. Additionally, the PAL composites improved the antioxidant status of broilers and the beneficial effects of COS/ZnO/PAL on the antioxidant status are more pronounced.

Effects of different levels of modified palygorskite supplementation on the growth performance, immunity, oxidative status and intestinal integrity and barrier function of broilers.

This experiment was designed to investigate effects of different levels of modified palygorskite (MPal) supplementation on growth performance, immunity, oxidative status and intestinal integrity and barrier function of broilers. A total of 320 1-day-old Arbor Acres broilers were randomly assigned into 5 dietary treatments and fed a basal diet supplemented with 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 g/kg MPal, respectively, for a 42-day feeding trial. Treatments quadratically reduced feed/gain ratio (F:G) during 1-21 days and linearly decreased average daily feed intake and F:G during 22-42 days, and linearly and quadratically decreased average daily feed intake and F:G during overall period (p < 0.05, 0.50 g/kg treatment showed the lowest F:G). MPal supplementation increased the contents of 21-day jejunal secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) quadratically, and 21-day jejunal immunoglobulin G (IgG), immunoglobulin M (IgM) and 42-day jejunal total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity linearly and quadratically (0.50 g/kg treatment showed the highest immunoglobulin concentration), whereas linearly reduced 21-day ileal SIgA level and 42-day jejunal malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation and serum diamine oxidase activity, and quadratically decreased 21-day ileal MDA level (p < 0.05). The 42-day jejunal SIgA, IgG and IgM concentrations, and T-SOD activity in jejunum at 21 days and ileum at both 21 days and 42 days were quadratically increased with MPal administration (p < 0.05, 0.50 g/kg treatment showed the highest T-SOD activity). The mucin 2 mRNA abundances in 42-day jejunum and 21-day ileum were quadratically increased with MPal supplementation (p < 0.05). Treatments linearly increased 42-day ileal zonula occludens-1, claudin-3 and jejunal claudin-3 mRNA level, whereas linearly and quadratically increased ileal claudin-2 mRNA level (p < 0.05). In conclusion, MPal supplementation exhibited beneficial effects on growth performance, intestinal immunity, antioxidant capacity and intestinal integrity and barrier function of broiler with its optimum dosage being 0.5 g/kg.

Carbon/Attapulgite Composites as Recycled Palm Oil-Decoloring and Dye Adsorbents.

Activated clay minerals have been widely used in the edible oil refining industry for decolorization of crude oil by adsorption, and so far many methods have been used to improve their decolorization efficiency. Herein, we successfully prepared a series of carbon/attapulgite (C/APT) composite adsorbents by a one-step in-situ carbonization process with natural starch (St) as the carbon source. It has been revealed that the adsorbent had better decolorization efficiency for crude palm oil than acid-activated APT. However, more than a million tons of decolorized waste is produced every year in the oil-refining industry, which was often treated as solid waste and has not yet been reutilized effectively. In order to explore a viable method to recycle and reuse the decolorant, the waste decolorant was further prepared into new C/APT adsorbents for the removal of dyes from wastewater, and then the dyes adsorbed on the adsorbent were used as the carbon sources to produce new C/APT adsorbents by a cyclic carbonization process. The results showed that the adsorbents prepared from the decolorized waste could remove more than 99.5% of the methylene blue (MB), methyl violet (MV), and malachite green (MG) dyes from the simulated wastewater with the dye concentration of 200 mg/L, and the C/APT-Re adsorbent consecutively regenerated five times using the adsorbed dyes as a carbon source still exhibit good adsorption efficiency for dyes. As a whole, this process opens a new avenue to develop efficient decolorants of palm oil and achieves recyclable utilization of decolored waste.

Effects of Dietary Synbiotic Supplementation as an Alternative to Antibiotic on the Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics, Meat Quality, Immunity, and Oxidative Status of Cherry Valley Ducks.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of synbiotic supplementation, a potential alternative to antibiotic, on growth performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality, immunity, and oxidative status of Cherry Valley ducks. In total, 540 1-day-old male Cherry Valley ducks were randomly subjected to 3 treatments, and each treatment consisted of 6 replicates with 30 birds each. Birds in the 3 treatments were fed a basal diet devoid of antibiotics (control group) or a basal diet supplemented with either 40 mg/kg zinc bacitracin or 1.5 g/kg synbiotic composed of xylooligosaccharide, Clostridium butyricum, and Bacillus subtilis for 42 days. Compared with the control group, dietary synbiotic and antibiotic supplementation decreased the feed/gain ratio of ducks (P=0.025) to a similar extent (P>0.05). Birds in the antibiotic group exhibited a lower average daily feed intake (P=0.024) whereas such an effect was not observed in the birds of the synbiotic group (P>0.05). Synbiotic and antibiotic supplementation reduced abdominal fat yield (P=0.032) and drip loss of the breast muscle (P<0.001) to similar extents (P>0.05). Additionally, synbiotic and antibiotic supplementation increased the relative weight of the bursa (P=0.005) and total superoxide dismutase activity in the ileal mucosa (P=0.025) to similar extents (P>0.05). Moreover, ileal malondialdehyde accumulation was reduced with the supplementation of synbiotic (P=0.028), but not antibiotic. The results indicated that dietary synbiotic supplementation was beneficial for growth performance, carcass compositions, meat quality, immune function, and antioxidant capacity of Cherry Valley ducks, and it could be used as an alternative to antibiotics in Cherry Valley ducks.

From illite/smectite clay to mesoporous silicate adsorbent for efficient removal of chlortetracycline from water.

A series of mesoporous silicate adsorbents with superior adsorption performance for hazardous chlortetracycline (CTC) were sucessfully prepared via a facile one-pot hydrothermal reaction using low-cost illite/smectite (IS) clay, sodium silicate and magnesium sulfate as the starting materials. In this process, IS clay was "teared up" and then "rebuilt" as new porous silicate adsorbent with high specific surface area of 363.52m2/g (about 8.7 folds higher than that of IS clay) and very negative Zeta potential (-34.5mV). The inert SiOSi (Mg, Al) bonds in crystal framework of IS were broken to form Si(Al) O- groups with good adsorption activity, which greatly increased the adsorption sites served for holding much CTC molecules. Systematic evaluation on adsorption properties reveals the optimal silicate adsorbent can adsorb 408.81mg/g of CTC (only 159.7mg/g for raw IS clay) and remove 99.3% (only 46.5% for raw IS clay) of CTC from 100mg/L initial solution (pH3.51; adsorption temperature 30°C; adsorbent dosage, 3g/L). The adsorption behaviors of CTC onto the adsorbent follows the Langmuir isotherm model, Temkin equation and pseudo second-order kinetic model. The mesopore adsorption, electrostatic attraction and chemical association mainly contribute to the enhanced adsorption properties. As a whole, the high-efficient silicate adsorbent could be candidates to remove CTC from the wastewater with high amounts of CTC.

Effects of synbiotic supplementation on growth performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality and muscular antioxidant capacity and mineral contents in broilers.

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary synbiotic supplementation on growth performance, carcass composition, meat quality and muscular antioxidant capacity, and mineral contents in broilers. Accordingly, 96 day-old male broiler chicks (Arbor Acres Plus; Aviagen, Huntsville, AL, USA) were randomly allocated to two groups, and each group consisted of six replicates with eight chicks each. Birds were fed a corn-soybean meal basal diet supplemented with either 0 or 1.5 g kg-1 synbiotic, consisting of probiotics (Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis and Clostridium butyricum) and prebiotics (yeast cell wall and xylooligosaccharide) from 1 to 42 days of age. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, supplementation with a synbiotic increased average daily gain (P < 0.05) but reduced feed/gain ratio (P < 0.01) in broilers from 1 to 42 days of age. Similalrly, dietary synbiotic inclusion increased breast yield (P < 0.05) but decreased abdominal fat (P < 0.01) in broilers. The breast muscle pH value at 24 h postmortem in broilers was elevated with the incorporation of synbiotic (P < 0.05). By contrast, synbiotic supplementation lowered the cooking loss during heat treatment in a water bath, malondialdehyde content, and total Cr content in the thigh muscle in broilers (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Dietary synbiotic supplementation into the diet of broilers may be an effective method for improving growth performance and carcass compositions, resulting in the production of meat with a favorable quality and oxidative stability. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

All-into-one strategy to synthesize mesoporous hybrid silicate microspheres from naturally rich red palygorskite clay as high-efficient adsorbents.

A mesoporous hybrid silicate microsphere with superior adsorption performance has been successfully synthesized by employing an "all-into-one" strategy and a simple one-pot hydrothermal process using naturally abundant low-grade red palygorskite (PAL) clay as raw material in the presence of non-toxic SiO32- and Mg2+ ions. As is expected, both the PAL and associated minerals transformed into a new amorphous mesoporous hybrid silicate microsphere without using any additional pore-forming template. The mesoporous silicate microsphere shows a large pore size of 37.74 nm, high specific surface area of 489.81 m2/g (only 54.67 m2/g for raw PAL) and negative surface potential of -43.3 mV, and its maximum adsorption capabilities for Methylene bule (MB) and Crystal violet (CV) reach 407.95 mg/g and 397.22 mg/g, respectively. Meanwhile, 99.8% of MB (only 53% for raw PAL) and 99.7% of CV (only 43% for raw PAL) were sucessfully removed from 200 mg/L of initial dye solution by only using 1 g/L of the adsorbent. In addition, the spent adsorbent can be easily regenerated and repeatly reused for muptiple cycles. The study on adsorption mechanism revealed that electrostatic attraction, hydrogen bonding and chemical complexing interactions are the main factors contributed to the high dye adsorption.