The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of Arcobacter species in water sources and raw milk from healthy animals in Kayseri, Turkey. A total of 175 samples of drinking water (n = 100), spring water (n = 25), and raw milk (n = 50) were examined. Arcobacter species were isolated using the membrane filtration technique. Overall, 7 (4%) of the 175 samples yielded Arcobacter spp.: 3 (3%) drinking water samples, 1 (4%) spring water sample, and 3 (6%) raw milk samples. Two species of Arcobacter were recovered from the seven positive samples: Arcobacter butzleri, Arcobacter skirrowii, and A. butzleri plus A. skirrowii found in 3 (1.7%), 2 (1.1%), and 2 (1.1%) samples, respectively. Our study is the first to report the isolation of both A. butzleri and A. skirrowii together from drinking water and is the first report of Arcobacter in milk from healthy cows in Turkey. Based on these findings, the presence of Arcobacter species in environmental waters and raw milk may pose a potential hazard for human health.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary silymarin on milk yield, milk fat, and certain blood parameters of dairy cattle. Silymarin is a naturally accepted hepatoprotectant that is used in the treatment of liver diseases in human beings, and has been tested in dairy cows during peripartum. Animals are subject to subclinical fatty liver. In the first part of the study, the silymarin (20 g/head/day) was supplemented to dairy cattle rations in the last 21 days (peripartum) of pregnancy. In the second part of study, silymarin was added to the rations of Holstein dairy cows for three weeks postpartum. A total of 40 Holstein dairy cows at 2 nd lactation with 550-600 kg live weight and average body condition score of 3.5 were used. Dairy cows were randomly separated into two treatment groups (20 cows in each). The first group was control (no addition) and the second group was treatment (silymarin supplemented) group. Treatments significantly increased milk yield, but decreased milk protein. Postpartum bodyweight loss was significantly less in the silymarin group than in the control group. Differences in postprandial plasma triglyceride (TRG) and total cholesterol (TC) levels were found to be significant. Plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and total protein (TP) values of the groups were also significantly different. As a result, it was observed that silymarin supplementation of the ration did not have side effects, and peak milk yields could be achieved earlier with silymarin treatment. Application of silymarin is believed to be useful. It was also observed that silymarin treatments speeded up the metabolic adaptation process of the dairy cows at the beginning of lactation. It was suggested that silymarin should be used in transition periods of dairy cattle.

Tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus L.), or chufa, is a plant that is found in nature and is cultivated for its edible tubers. The purpose of this study was to determine the chemical composition, nutritive value, and in vitro digestibility of three tiger nut varieties using the in vitro gas production technique. These varieties were Sarışeker (yellow), Introduction 1, and Balyumru (brown). Rumen fluid was obtained from two cannulated Holstein animals. Time-dependent in vitro gas production was monitored at 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours of incubation. The varieties differed in dry matter (DM), crude ash (CA), ether extract (EE), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), and non-fibre carbohydrate (NFC) content (P <0.05). They also differed in the instantaneous volume of gas produced and in time-dependent gas production. Balyumru produced more gas at the onset of incubation than Introduction 1 and Sarışeker. However, over time, the gas produced by digestion of Introduction 1 exceeded the other two varieties. The amounts of gas produced at each time-point were intercorrelated. It is recommended that these results should lead to further evaluation in in vivo studies. Keywords: chemical composition, energy content, in vitro gas production

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This study was carried out to determine the nutritional value of some selected peanut varieties and line in the Eastern Mediterranean Agricultural Research Institute of Adana, Turkey. The peanut varieties used were Gazipasa, Sultan, NC7, Cihangir, and Halisbey; while the peanut line was DA335/2011. The chemical composition, metabolizable energy (ME), net energy lactation (NEL) and organic matter digestibility (OMD) of the selected peanut varieties and line were determined through Hohenheim in vitro gas production technique. Incubation times for Hohenheim gas production technique were 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. The analysis of variance (General Linear Model) was carried out using the SPSS package program. The differences among groups in terms of nutrient contents were found to be significant (P<ou=0.05), except for dry matter (DM) and hemicellulose (HC). The highest crude protein (CP) (40.13%) was found in Sultan variety, while the crude oil (CO) content was found to be between 21.32 and 31.01%. The ADF, NDF, and ADL content of the peanut varieties and line were within the ranges of 2.32-7.91%, 4.85-9.88%, and 0.43-2.62%, respectively. Conversely, the Sultan variety had the highest crude cellulose (CC) value, Cihangir variety was determined to contain the highest hemicellulose (HC) value. The differences in 24 hour gas and methane production among different peanut varieties and line were found to be not-significant. (P > 0.05).