The aim of this experiment was to investigate whether a low-dietary application (15 mg/kg) of an alkaloid preparation containing quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids and obtained from Macleaya cordata (Sangrovit) influenced caecal metabolism, growth performance and long-chain fatty acid composition of breast meat. One-day-old broiler chicks (Cobb 500) were fed a diet without supplement or with a 15 mg/kg dose of Sangrovit (C and A groups respectively) for 5 weeks. Although the A treatment was not accompanied by an enhanced final body weight of broilers, the intake of a diet with Sangrovit influenced the caecal microflora activity. The addition of Sangrovit to a diet decreased potentially harmful β-glucuronidase and β-glucosidase activities (p<0.05 and p=0.075 respectively), and at the same time led to a significant increase in activities of bacterial glycolytic enzymes α-glucosidase, α-galactosidase, β-galactosidase in comparison to the control group. The concentration of total short-chain fatty acids in the caecal digesta was increased in the A treatment contributing to the tendency towards lower caecal pH (p=0.078). The analysis of breast meat fatty acids showed that the dietary application of Sangrovit evoked some changes in contents of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) contents. The applied dosage of Sangrovit caused an increase in the sum of MUFA and the tendency towards lower PUFA sum (p<0.05 and p=0.062 respectively) as in relation with the C group. Although the nutritionally relevant n-6/n-3 PUFA and the (PUFA+MUFA)/saturated fatty acids ratios remained similar in both groups, further research is postulated to establish the effect of this preparation on meat quality. To sum up, despite of a lack of the improvement in final body weight, a low dose of dietary Sangrovit was found to exert positive effects on the caecal metabolism of the broilers.

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The objective of this research was to evaluate the chemical composition of grain of 20 winter wheat, rye and triticale varieties grown in Lithuania. The grain of the tested varieties was analysed for crude protein, crude fat, crude ash, crude fibre, and amino acids. The Pearson's correlation coefficient between the components of grain chemical composition (except amino acids) was calculated. The highest concentration of crude protein was determined for the variety 'SW Talentro' (triticale) and the lowest for the rye variety 'Palazzo' (P < 0.05). Among the wheat varieties tested, the 'Mariboss' contained the highest concentration of crude fat (1.56% dry matter) and crude fibre (2.19% dry matter) (P < 0.05). Among the rye varieties tested, the highest and dominant mean content of neutral detergent fibre was determined for the variety 'Matador' (20.59% dry matter) (P < 0.05). The grain of wheat varieties had a high content of acid detergent fibre ('Rigi') and acid detergent lignin ('Mariboss') (P < 0.05). Furthermore, a very strong correlation was determined between individual fibre fractions of grain, that is between hemicellulose and neutral detergent fibre content (r = 0.99) and between acid detergent fibre and cellulose (r = 0.93). A negative correlation was determined between the crude protein and nitrogen-free extract (r = −0.83). The study revealed that the wheat variety 'Zentos', the rye variety 'Dankowskie Amber' and the tirticale variety 'SW Talentro' accumulated a higher amount of amino acids in comparison with the other cereal varieties tested. The results of the study showed that the chemical composition (crude protein, essential amino acids, nitrogenfree extract, neutral detergent fibre) of grain of the triticale varieties was more similar to that of wheat varieties compared with rye varieties.

The meat of Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) as obtained in Lithuania contained 21.4% crude protein with high amounts of glutamic acid (152.6 mg/g), aspartic acid (87.6 mg/g), lysine (81.8 mg/g), leucine (75.7 mg/g), arginine (60.4 mg/g), and isoleucine (60.1 mg/g). This meat could be a high quality protein source because of its well-balanced essential amino acid composition. Polyunsaturated fatty acids were predominant with a percentage of 41.58% in thighs and of 42.12% in the fat depot of tails. Hexadecanoic acid (C16:0) was the dominant fatty acid in thigh muscles, followed by octadecadienoic (C18:2n-6), octadecenoic (C18:1), and octadecatrienoic (C18:3n-3) acids with the percentages 23.05, 22.66, 22.28, and 12.40, respectively. In the tail lipids, the dominant fatty acid was C18:1, followed by C18:3n-3 and C18:2n-6, and C16:0 with the percentages 31.72, 21.87, 18.53, and 12.96, respectively. With predominant polyunsaturated fatty acids and an n-6/n-3 PUFA value 2.1, beaver meat could be n-3 PUFA-rich food in human diets.