No abstract

Cereals as the major food supply are deficient in essential nutrients, such as PUFA and pigments. Biotechnological techniques based on solid state fermentation (SSF) and genetic engineering have been developed to naturally prepare functional cereals enriched with PUFAs and carotenoids. SSF represents a promising approach where the selected fungi (Zygomycetes) effectively utilize and transform raw cereal substrates to cereal-based bioproducts containing high amounts of valuable PUFAs and carotenoids. Depending on the strain, types of cereal substrates, and cultivation conditions, a range of cereal-based bioproducts enriched with PUFAs (up to 2.4% GLA, 4.2% AA, 2.1% dihomo-gamma/linolenic acid, 2.3% eicosapentaenoic acid) and pigments (8.5 mg beta-carotene/kg prefermented cereals) have been prepared. In addition, cereals (barley, wheat) consisting of gamma-linolenic and stearidonic acids have been prepared by genetic transformation of the fungal fatty acid D6-desaturase gene. Such functional prefermented cereal-based bioproducts are characterized by the acceptable nutritive, functional, and flavor values, the improved antioxidant, radical-scavenging, and thermal oxidation properties as well as the enhanced safety; therefore they may find applications in the food/feed fields.Practical applications: Cereals lack a number of nutrients, such as PUFAs and pigments which are essential for human well-being due to their healthy, dietary, and functional properties. However, cereals could be considered as challenging sources of these compounds if they are naturally modified with the aim to contain PUFAs and pigments. Therefore the biotechnological preparation of cereals enriched with PUFAs and carotene pigments by fungal SSF has been developed. This natural technique is promising for the application of prefermented "bioproducts" in various fields and such cereal materials enriched with PUFAs and carotenoids might be considered as new types of inexpensive functional cereal-based food and feed supplements.

Administration of Thamnidium elegans for effective utilization of agroindustrial materials (wheat bran) creates new perspectives for animal cereal diet enriched with fungal γ-linolenic acid (GLA). The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of adding prefermented cereal product containing a high amount of gamma-linolenic acid into the feed on broiler chickens' performance, fatty acids profile and oxidative stability in chilled breast meat. Seventy eight COBB 500 oneday old broiler chicks were randomly divided into 2 treatment groups with three replications and fattened for 42 days. During the first 21 days, all broilers consumed the starter diet. After three weeks, broilers were fed the grower diet; controls were fed without the addition of prefermented cereal product; and the experimental group was supplemented with 3% of prefermented product. Higher final body weight (2 688 vs. 2 604 g) and feed conversion ratio were recorded in the experimental group (P > 0.05). The increased GLA content in the experimental diet (0.095 g·kg -1

Plant extracts and fungal fermented feed with gamma-linolenic acid-rich microbial oils are perspective additives for use in animal nutrition as appetite and digestion stimulants, stimulants of physiological functions, for the prevention and treatment for certain pathological conditions, and as antioxidants. The activity of antioxidant enzymes and the level of reduced glutathione were measured in the plasma and in liver, heart and kidney mitochondria after 42 days of feeding broiler chickens both regular and combination diets. These were selected based on our previous experience. The administration of agrimony and gamma-linolenic acid resulted in a significant decrease in superoxide dismutase activity in all four bodies in contrast to plant extracts. We conclude that the decrease in activity is due to decreased production, and hence dismutation, of superoxide radicals to peroxides followed by lower activity of glutathione peroxidase, which was not seen in the case of only plant extract administration. Generally, higher glutathione reductase activity would be in response to increased demands on reduced glutathione as a cofactor for the reaction catalysed by glutathione peroxidase and the utilization of glutathione itself. However, measured levels of reduced glutathione showed no change. The results argue against any oxidative stress conditions. The application of agrimony extract appears to be suitable for the antioxidant effect against peroxidation of gamma-linolenic acid. As the efficacy of measuring the effects of diets on the oxidative stability of meat caused by selected antioxidant enzymes is rather low, additional data from the experiment will be processed to clearly assess the influence of this combination of diets.

Aims: Enrichment of wheat bran (WB), corn meal (CM) and barley flakes (BF) with the oleaginous fungus Cunninghamella echinulata (CE) might lead to effective use of these by-products in ruminant nutrition. We examined their effects on rumen fermentation and lipid metabolism. Methods and Results: WB, CM and BF substrates without or with brewer's grains (WBG, CMG, BFG) and enriched with CE were incubated with meadow hay (MH, 500 : 500, w/w) in rumen fluid in vitro for 24 h. The dry matter of the CE-enriched substrates increased (by 2-4%); however, digestibility decreased (P < 0Á01). Adverse effects of CE-enriched substrates on the rumen ciliate population were observed. Little effect on the rumen eubacterial population was detected by the 16S-polymerase chain reaction/denaturizing gradient gel electrophoresis method. The increase in c-linolenic acid output in the MH + BFGCE diet (800 : 200, w/w) was accompanied by an increase in rumen biohydrogenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Conclusion: The diet substrates enriched with the fungus CE were less digestible than the untreated cereal substrates; no appreciable positive effect was observed on rumen fermentation patterns or the eubacterial and ciliate populations. Significance and Impact of the Study: The in vitro study showed that adding CE-enriched substrates to ruminant diets is not effective for improving rumen fermentation.