Abstract
The use of agro-industrial by-products in animal nutrition is a promising strategy to reduce the food-feed competition, the diet cost at farm level and the environmental impact of animal-derived food production. In this study, the suitability of cocoa bean shell (CBS), a by-product of the cocoa industry, as a feed ingredient in the diet of dairy goats was evaluated, with a focus on the related implications on feed intake, milk yield, milk main constituents, and fatty acid (FA) profile of milk fat. Twenty-two Camosciata delle Alpi goats were divided into two balanced groups. All the goats were fed mixed hay ad libitum. The control group (CTRL; n = 11) also received 1.20 kg/head × day of a commercial concentrate, while in the experimental group (CBS; n = 11) 200 g of the CTRL concentrate were replaced by the same amount of pelleted CBS. The total dry matter intake of the goats was reduced by the dietary inclusion of CBS (P ≤ 0.01). The milk yield, as well as the milk fat, protein, and casein contents and yields were unaffected by the treatment. Milk from the CBS-fed goats showed decreased urea content when compared to the CTRL group (P ≤ 0.001). Milk from the CBS group of goats also showed increased concentrations of total branched-chain FA (both iso and anteiso forms; P ≤ 0.001) and total monounsaturated FA (P ≤ 0.05), as well as a decreased ∑ n6/∑ n3 FA ratio (P ≤ 0.05). De novo saturated FA, total polyunsaturated FA, total conjugated linoleic acids, and the majority of ruminal biohydrogenation intermediates remained unaffected by the dietary treatment. These results suggest that CBS can be strategically used as an alternative non-conventional raw material in diets intended for lactating goats, with no detrimental effects on their milk production performance. The use of CBS in goat nutrition may be hindered by the presence of theobromine, a toxic alkaloid. Special attention is needed by nutritionists to avoid exceeding the theobromine limits imposed by the current legislation. Detheobromination treatments are also suggested in literature to prevent toxic phenomena.
Highlights
The world population is estimated to reach 9.7 billion in 2050 [1]
As far as the FA composition is concerned, cocoa bean shell (CBS) showed a prevalence of saturated fatty acids [SFA; 28.54 g/kg dry matter (DM), corresponding to the 56.8% of total detected FA (TFA)] and of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA; 16.62 g/kg DM, corresponding to the 33.1% of TFA)
The diets were very similar in terms of their FA composition, with the CBS diet showing a slightly higher concentration of total SFA (7.86 vs. 5.85 g/kg DM, corresponding to 33.8 and 28.9% of TFA) and total MUFA (6.52 vs. 5.41 g/kg DM, corresponding to 28.0 and 26.8% of TFA) and a very similar concentration of total Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (8.87 vs. 8.96 g/kg DM, corresponding to 38.2 and 44.3% of TFA) when compared to the control group (CTRL) diet
Summary
Promoting a more efficient and sustainable use of the available resources has become a priority to satisfy the increasing global food demand [2]. Agro-industrial by-products are addressed as innovative raw materials to be used in feed formulations for livestock animals to reduce both the humananimal competition for food supply and the animal feeding costs [3]. Cocoa beans (CB) are the seeds of the cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao L., botanical family: Sterculiaceae) They are composed of an outer shell, two cotyledons and a small germ [4]. Africa is the leader cocoa producer worldwide, covering the 76% of total production. Significant contributions to the world cocoa trade are given by Americas, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea (18.0, 4.6, and 0.6% of the total production, respectively) [5]
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