Abstract
Simple SummaryThe use of winery by-products as an animal feed ingredient in rabbit production can enhance the sustainability of this livestock sector by reducing feeding costs and simultaneously diminishing environmental problems related to the management of those by-products. White-rot fungi have been studied for the delignification of lignocellulosic materials due to their potential to decrease the content of lignin. In fact, white-rot fungi also improve the nutritional value due to the deposition of bioactive compounds, acting as a possible biological treatment to enhance the nutritive value of grape stalks. The objective of this work was to evaluate the incorporation of untreated grape stalks and fungi-treated grape stalks in rabbits’ diets.This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the incorporation of untreated grape stalks (UGS) and fungi-treated grape stalks (Lentinula edodes, TGS) in rabbits’ diets. The control group was fed with a control diet without grape stalks (C), two experimental groups were fed on diets with 5% and 10% incorporation of UGS (5UGS and 10UGS), and two with 5% and 10% incorporation of TGS (5TGS and 10TGS). Rabbits fed with TGS diets showed higher daily weight gain (p = 0.034), feed conversion rate (p = 0.002), carcass weight (p = 0.038), and reference carcass weight (p = 0.03) when compared to the control diet. Moreover, animals fed with TGS diets showed an increase in the caecum (p = 0.015) and small intestine (p = 0.021) lengths and in the total volatile fatty acid content (p = 0.005) compared to animals fed UGS diets. Blood triglyceride levels were lower in animals fed with TGS diets compared to UGS (p = 0.005) and C (p ≤ 0.001) diets (12% and 19% lower, respectively), and a trend to lower cholesterol levels was observed (p = 0.071). Meat from rabbits fed with TGS diets had higher levels of linoleic acid, γ-linolenic, ∑ω-6, ∑PUFA, and ∑PUFA/∑SFA ratio compared to rabbits fed with the C diet. Results indicated that grape stalks (UGS and TGS) could be effectively used as an alternative raw material in rabbits’ diets without compromising animal performance.
Highlights
The utilization of winery wastes in animal feeding may represent a viable strategy for livestock production as it could reduce feed costs and make a vital contribution to the possible shortage of raw materials, presenting a solution for the environmental problems created by agricultural industries [1,2]
Lentinula edodes was selected based on the results obtained in a preliminary study that showed that this fungal strain had a greater potential for the improvement of the nutritional value of grape stalks for rabbit feeding
The experimental diets did not result in significant changes in animal performance, except daily weight gain (DWG), carcass weight (CW) and reference CW, lengths of the gastrointestinal tract, volatile fatty acids (VFA) profile, triglycerides and urea levels, and fatty acids profile
Summary
The utilization of winery wastes in animal feeding may represent a viable strategy for livestock production as it could reduce feed costs and make a vital contribution to the possible shortage of raw materials, presenting a solution for the environmental problems created by agricultural industries [1,2]. The nutritional content of grape stalks may not be appealing, limiting its use as a raw material for animal feeding, as they constitute a lignocellulosic fiber material composed mainly of cellulose (30–38%), hemicelluloses (14–21%), and lignin (17–33%) [4,7,8,9]. Many studies have evaluated the effect of biological treatment on lignocellulosic biomass with fungi, mainly in sheep [12,13,14,15,16], cattle [17,18,19,20], and rabbits [21,22,23] In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the dietary incorporation of untreated and fungi-treated grape stalks with Lentinula edodes on the diets of growing rabbits
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