Effect of detoxified karanja (Pongamia spp.) cake on testicular architecture and semen production in ram lambs

Abstract

The protein-rich non-conventional detoxified karanja cake (dKC) can be used in place of conventional protein supplements like soybean meal (SBM), groundnut meal, etc. in livestock feed. The present study was conducted to assess the effect of two levels of dKC by replacing SBM on testicular architecture, semen quality and expressions of mRNAs encoding luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) in testes of ram lambs. Eighteen ram lambs were randomly divided into three groups (n 5 6) and fed different levels (%) of karanja cake (0% replacement -control; 50% replacement -dKC-50 and 75% replacement -dKC-75) for 140 days. After 120 days of feeding, the semen from the animals was collected and analysed. The testes samples were collected on day 140 of feeding for transcripts expression studies. The dKC-50 group had no change in BW, whereas dKC-75 group showed decreased ( P , 0.05) BW as compared with control. The number of animals ejaculated semen in dKC-75 group was lower ( P , 0.05) than the control group. A reduction ( P , 0.05) in LHR expression in dKC-75 was observed, whereas a reduction in IGF-I expression ( P , 0.05) was observed in dKC-50 and dKC-75 as compared with control group. The study reveals that in ram lambs, long-term feeding of dKC at 50% replacement of SBM may not affect BW. However, long-term feeding of dKC as a replacement of SBM may affect testicular function.Keywords: karanja cake, ram lambs, semen quality, IGF-I, LHR ImplicationsThe demand for animal feed with ever increasing animal population necessitates the use of unconventional feed. One such feed is protein-rich karanja cake. The detoxified karanja cake was fed to ram lambs and its effect on reproductive performance was studied. A high level of protein replacement with karanja cake decreased testicular function and sperm concentration while feeding a lower level did not influence these factors by 140 days.

Biochemical and histopathological changes in sheep fed different detoxified karanj ( Pongamia glabra ) seed cake as partial protein supplements

“…Changes like the degeneration of the seminiferous tubules with the presence of a fewer number of spermatogonial cells may affect the reproductive performance when such rams are used in the breeding purpose. Contrary to our finding, Dineshkumar et al. (2013) did not notice any changes in the testicular weight of rams when detoxified karanj cake (DKC) was included at a higher level (18% and 29%) in the concentrate.…”

“…However, the spermatozoa concentration was reduced when DKC was included at 29% in the concentrate. However, the histological section of the testis of lambs fed 18% DKC in the concentrate mixture showed edema in intertubular space with moderate damage to the seminiferous tubular cells ( Dineshkumar et al., 2013 ), while feeding of DKC at higher level (29%) in the same experiment showed severe damage to seminiferous tubular epithelial cells with loss of interstitial cells.…”

“…Lower body weight of lambs in LM and BN groups revealed the growth-depressing effect of karanj cake, which was mainly due to lower DMI and other nutrients, mainly the protein intake. Akin growth depression was demonstrated in lambs ( Dineshkumar et al., 2013 ) when detoxified karanj cake replaced 75% of the soybean meal protein. Our study further indicated that simple water washing treatment of SKC at 1:2 ratio before incorporating in the concentrate would be a better means of processing the cake for feeding to animals as the body weight of lambs in WW and the control groups was similar.…”

“…Thus, the presence of residual karanjin in the body may affect some vital organs and alter their morphology. Few pathomorphological studies are available on karanj cake feeding to sheep ( Dineshkumar et al., 2013 ; Krishnamoorthy et al., 2014 ). In the present experiment, different detoxification methods were adopted to remove the residual toxins present in the SKC, and these cakes were incorporated in the concentrate to replace 50% of the soybean meal nitrogen.…”

Nutrient Sparing Effect Of Detoxified Karanj Seed Cake in Ration Of Growing Goat Kids

“…In vitro laboratory Page66 analysis of karanja seed cake has already revealed characteristically high crude protein ~30% (Ravi et al, 2000) and suitable calcium: phosphorus ratio (Soren and Sastry, 2009) compared to soybean meal and cottonseed meal supporting its evaluation as a protein supplement. The karanj seed cake is often blamed for low palatability and poor digestibility due to the presence of various anti nutritional factors such as karanjin (0.132%), tannin (6.55%) and trypsin inhibitors (3.17%) (Panda et al, 2006;Dinesh et al, 2013). However, it was suggested that solvent extracted karanj seed cake (SKC) is safe for animal feeding (Prabhu, 2002, Thakur et al, 2014 and its level of feeding could be further improved through alkali processing of SKC Panda et al, 2006).…”