ABSTRACT
Consumer demand for high quality and safe foods that will have a positive impact on their health has increased in recent years. Today, it is possible to meet those demands by combining the genetic potential of domestic animals and applying different feeding strategies. Nutrigenomics is one of the "omics" sciences that studies the interaction between nutrients and the genome together with their influence on metabolic and physiological processes in the body. While nutrition of domestic animals is solely based on studying the influence of nutrients on animal health and production traits, nutrigenomics integrates the fields of nutrition, genomics, molecular genetics and bioinformatics. By understanding the molecular relationships between different forms and/or concentrations of nutrients in feed and genes, it is possible to answer the question of how small changes in the diet of farm animals can produce a quality product with positive effects on human health. The aim of this article is to describe how the manipulation of adding different nutrients in the feed affects the expression of different genes in chicken and consequently alters their phenotype.
ABSTRACT
The aim of the research was to investigate the influence of terminal sire line (TSL) and male category (MC) on carcass and meat quality of commercial fatteners. The study was performed on 180 pigs originating from three terminal sire lines: A (Pietrain × Large White), B (pure Pietrain), and C (Pietrain × Duroc × Large White), being assigned to three groups according to MC: immunocastrates (IC, n = 60), surgical castrates (SC, n = 60) and entire males (EM, n = 60). TSL affected most of the carcass and meat quality traits, together with the androstenone concentration. At the same time, MC had a significant effect on fat thickness, ham circumference, drip loss, cooking loss and androstenone and skatole concentrations. A significant interaction effect was observed for carcass length and ham circumference, as well as for most of the measured meat quality traits (except cooking loss, CIE L*, CIE b*, and Warner Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF)). Among the three investigated sire lines, immunocastration was shown to be most beneficial for fatteners sired by the TSL C. However, if deciding to raise EM, fatteners from the TSL B are recommended in terms of carcass and meat quality, although strategies for avoiding boar taint in their carcasses must be taken into consideration.
ABSTRACT
The research objective was to determine the influence of marigold extract and storage duration on the indicators of egg quality and on the oxidative stability of eggs. The 5-wk long research was carried out on 300 laying hens. Laying hens were divided into control group (C-without marigold extract supplementation) and 2 experimental groups (E1-supplemented 1 g/kg of marigold extract and E2-supplemented 2 g/kg of marigold extract to diet). The eggs were analyzed on 2 occasions, as fresh eggs (1 D after collecting in the facility) and after 28 D of storage in a refrigerator on +4°C. On both occasions, there were 30 eggs analyzed per each group. Statistical analysis of the research results proved influence of marigold extract supplementation and storage duration on the weight of eggs (P < 0.05) and on the eggshell thickness (P < 0.001), but they did not have any influence on other indicators of external egg quality. Storage duration affected (P < 0.001) all indicators of internal egg quality, whereas supplementation of marigold extract influenced (P < 0.001) only the pH value of yolk. Supplementation of marigold extract influenced (P < 0.001) the yolk color intensity. There was a significant increase in the value of yolk color, starting with 9.63 in the C group and raising to 12.77 (E1) and 13.50 (E2) in fresh eggs. Yolk color of stored eggs was more intensive than the yolk color of fresh eggs in all 3 groups (P < 0.001). Supplemented marigold extract did not influence the obtained results of lipid oxidation in yolks, whereas storage duration had influence (P < 0.05) on oxidation intensity. The most favorable value of oxidation in fresh eggs was determined in the E2 group (0.545 µg MDA/g), and in stored eggs in the E1 group (0.615 µg MDA/g). Based on the research results, it was concluded that the supplementation of marigold extract had favorable influence on the yolk color intensity and on the oxidative stability of eggs without having negative influence on other egg quality indicators.
