The aim of this review was to understand the role of physiological, hematological, biochemical and hormonal variables of the blood of goats raised in adverse environments. Scientific work in recent years has allowed for the evaluation of how goats of various breeds respond to edaphoclimatic effects to maintain homeothermy according to adaptability to the environment. The exposure of goats to heat stress causes changes in the physiological functions with impact on production and productivity of the animals. There is evidence that the central nervous system is sensitive to temperature changes, and some cells are agiler in the cold than in heat. In conclusion, we say that regardless of the breed, the raising environment and its climatic variables can trigger physiological, biochemical, hematological and hormonal alterations that result in a reduction of the heat production for maintenance of homeothermy. All these changes have a substantial impact on production and productivity.

This study investigated the effect of season on the endocrine and adaptive profiles of a Brazilian Creole goat population in a semi-arid region of Brazil during the dry and the rainy season. We considered physiological, morphological, biochemical, haematological, hormonal and anatomical profiles. The experiment used 80 adult goats (2-to 5-year-old) and lactating (160 ± 14 days of lactation length) goats, with an average daily milk yield of 500.9 ± 13 g. Physiological parameters (rectal temperature, RT; respiratory rate, RR; heart rate, HR; skin temperature, ST) were high (p < .05) in the afternoon in both seasons. There was a significant effect of season (p < .05) on anatomical parameters (hair diameter, HD; hair length, HL; coat thickness, CT). Haematological, biochemical and hormonal parameters were also significantly affected by season (p < .05). We measured the biochemical and hormonal characteristics changes during different seasons; metabolism was reduced during heat stress and accelerated during cold stress. These hormones facilitate the physiological parameters involved in the adaptation process. Our results confirm that the adaptive capacity of the animals cannot be described solely by RT and RR.ARTICLE HISTORY

This study was conducted to investigate the adaptive profile of the Garfagnina goat breed in two different seasons (spring and summer) through physiological, biochemical, haematological, and hormonal parameters. Fifty adult lactating females were studied twice a day (morning and afternoon) in each season. The air temperature, black globe temperature and air relative humidity was recorded using an automatic weather station. Physiological parameters recorded were rectal temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, skin temperature and rectalskin temperature gradient. The results of this study showed that there was a significant effect of season and period on all environmental variables. Physiological variables, rectal temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate and skin temperature showed higher values in the afternoon in both seasons. Both biochemical and hormonal parameters were significantly affected by season of the year. Biochemical and hormonal characteristics undergo changes during different seasons such that metabolism is reduced during heat stress and accelerated during cold stress; these metabolic changes are controlled by the thyroid hormones and cortisol. It has been shown from this study that these hormones facilitates the physiological parameters involved with the adaptation process confirming that adaptive capacity of animals cannot be described solely by rectal temperature and respiratory rate.

The Garfagnina goat is an endangered native goat population from Italy. This study aims to give a contribution to the milk quality assessment of the native goat during the two productive seasons, spring and summer, and to verify the relationships between some meteorological data and physiological and milk quality parameters. Individual milk samples were taken in the two seasons. Physiological parameters and meteorological data were also registered. All the milk samples were measured for volume and analysed for: dry matter, total nitrogen, casein, ash, lactose, fat, milk fatty acid (FA) composition, number and diameter of the fat globules, and rheological parameters. There were not differences in the average diameter of the milk fat globules (2.27 ± 0.28 lm) and in milk gross composition between the two seasons, except for lactose which was significantly lower in summer. During summer a significant increase in some longchain FAs such as CLA c9,t11, C18:1 t11, C18:0, C18:3 n3, C20:0, C22:0, C22:2 was observed, whereas short-chain FAs (C6:0, C8:0, C10:0), which are responsible for the development of unpleasant aromas, as well as monounsaturated C16:1, C17:1 c9, C20:1, C22:1 and polyunsaturated FAs C20:2, C20:3 n3 decreased. The average PUFA n6/PUFA n3 ratio was 1.7 and the lowest values were recorded in summer. In summer a worsening of the clot, which was less firm, was found. Environmental parameters were found to be linked to the milk FAs, while heart rate and skin temperature were negatively linked to milk yield and lactose, respectively. ARTICLE HISTORY

a b s t r a c tThe aim of this study was to characterize the adaptive profile and identify variables with great discriminatory power of the Brazilian Azul goat population and Italian Garfagnina population, through the use of principal component and canonical discriminant analysis. A total of 110 Garfagnina milking females (60 in winter and 50 in summer) and 80 Brazilian Azul (40 in winter and 40 in summer) were considered. Air temperature ( • C), black globe temperature (BGT) and relative humidity (%) were measured with the aid of an automatic weather station. Some physiological parameters (rectal temperature -RT, respiratory rate -RR, skin temperature -ST and heart rate -HR), some anatomical parameters (hair diameter -HD and hair length -HL), some hematological parameters (erythrocyte -RBCs, packed cell volume -PCV and mean corpuscular volume -MCV), some blood biochemical parameters (glucose -GLI, cholesterol -COL, triglycerides -TRI, creatinine -CRE, urea -URE, total protein -PRT, albumin -ALB, globulin -GLO, albumin and globulin ratio -A/G, gamma -glutamyl transferase -GGT and aspartate aminotransferase -AST) and some stressed hormones (thyroxine -T4, triiodothyronine -T3 and cortisol -COR) were measured. The variables with greater discriminant power were T3, ST, COR, T4, GGT, HD, GLO, HL and PCV to Garfagnina population and PRT, MCV, PCV, ALB, T4, ST, HL, RBCs, TRI and GGT in the Azul Brazilian population. Classification of the animals was more accurate when considering morphological, physiological, hematological, biochemical and hormonal variables jointly.

This work aimed to determine the effect of citric and malic acids on the food safety, nutritional and physicochemical quality of sheep buchada. For this purpose, several microbiological (thermotolerant coliforms, coagulase positive Staphylococcus, and Salmonella sp.), nutritional (lipids, proteins, ashes) physicochemical (acidity, pH, water activity, and TBARS test), and sensorial analyses (acceptance test and purchase intent) were carried out. The sheep buchada with organic acids added, as well as the control samples, did not show any microbial growth during storage. The addition of organic acids in sheep buchada resulted in the reduction of the pH and moisture as well as a significant increase in the acidity of the samples, being these changes recognized as barriers to microbial growth. The addition of citric acid resulted in lower values in the TBARS test, which could attributed to its antioxidant action. Moreover, the addition of acids did not negatively interfere with the sensory attributes. Practical applications The use of edible by‐products from the slaughter of sheep in the formulation of blood sausage is viable because it uses low‐cost raw materials; furthermore, the utilization of these by‐products can generate income for producers, allowing them to offer a meat product of high nutritional and sensory quality.

The aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of including different levels of tomato pomace (TP) on performance, blood biochemical parameters, hormones, production and composition of milk, and economic analysis of Saanen goats reared in confinement. Sixteen multiparous goats (Saanen), 21 days in milk, were randomly distributed in two Latin square 4 × 4 (four periods and four treatments), according to the inclusion levels of dehydrated tomato pomace (0%, 20%, 40%, and 60%) in the diet. This inclusion resulted in differences in the intake of dry and organic matter, as well as ether extract, crude protein, water, neutral detergent fiber, and non-fibrous carbohydrates. The inclusion of 60% TP resulted in a significant decrease of body weight (−4.42 kg) in comparison with initial body weight, while the other three treatments did not affect or increase the animal body weight (between −0.05 and +3.07 kg). The addition of 20% and 40% of TP resulted in higher milk production (around 1.5 kg day−1) than in animals from a control (1.2 kg day−1) and 60% TP (1.04 kg day−1). This increase was approximately 28% in the animals with 40% of TP inclusion. Moreover, the addition of 20% or 40% TP also improved the milk quality, which presented a higher fat amount (4.37% and 4.63% in 20% TP and 40% TP animals, respectively) than in a control (3.7%) and animals feed with 60% TP (4.02%). The feed efficiency and feed conversion did not show differences between diets. Thyroid hormones (T3 and T4) were also significantly affected by the inclusion of TP in the diet. The diet with the highest level of TP (60%) had the lowest cost per kilo among the diets evaluated. However, the use of 40% TP in animal diet presented the highest milk production and intermediate production cost.

No abstract