Effects of replacement of alfalfa by big-leaf mulberry on growth performance, digestion and meat quality in growing rabbits

Abstract

<p>This study aimed to investigate the effect of sundried big-leaf mulberry (BLM) as a replacement for alfalfa on the growth performance, digestibility of nutrients, nitrogen (N) utilisation and meat quality in New Zealand White rabbits. One hundred and sixty weaned rabbits, aged 35±1 d and with a body weight of 755±26 g, were randomly assigned to the 4 treatments with 20 replicates of 2 rabbits (1 male and 1 female) each. Animal performance was evaluated between the 35th and 77th d of age in 40 animals per treatment. The coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) of nutrients and N utilisation were measured between 77 to 83 d of age in 30 animals per treatment. The control rabbits were fed a corn-soybean meal-alfalfa meal based diet. The three experimental groups were fed a similar diet in which the alfalfa meal was replaced by 10% (BLM10), 20% (BLM20), or 30% (BLM30) BLM. The final body weights and average daily gain were higher (<em>P</em><0.05) in BLM20 rabbits compared to control and BLM30 rabbits. Although BLM inclusion had no effects on the CTTAD of dry matter, organic matter and crude protein (<em>P</em>>0.10), the CTTAD of ether extract was higher in rabbits fed the diets based on BLM (<em>P</em><0.05). No effect of treatment was noted on ingested and faecal N. Urinary (<em>P</em><0.05) and retained N (<em>P</em><0.10) were higher in animals fed with BLM30 and BLM20 diets, respectively. Dietary BLM supplementation increased a* (<em>P</em><0.05) and tended to reduce L* (<em>P</em><0.10) in rabbit meat samples. It was concluded that replacing alfalfa meal with BLM (20%) can promote growth and increase ether extract digestibility. Additionally, dietary BLM supplementation can increase the redness value of meat.</p>

Productive and metabolic increments of the inclusion of Broussonetia papyrifera to replace maize silage in growing goats

“…With the increase in the proportion of BP replacing silage maize, the average daily gain of goats increased significantly, and the feed utilization efficiency was significantly improved. Compared to silage maize, BP can provide more balanced amino acids to the goat and has a higher digestibility and utilization rate of high quality crude fibre (Li and Guo 2009;Wu et al 2019). The results showed that the replacement of silage maize by BP (30%) can promote growth.…”

“…The higher the myoglobin content in muscle, the greater the red degree of meat colour (Li et al 2018). Wu et al (2019) found that the iron content of BP was higher than that of maize, and supplementation of BP had a positive effect on the red value of rabbit meat.…”

“…heat tolerance and short rotation period (Adigbli et al 2019;Qureshi et al 2020). The leaves of BP contain 21.6% of crude protein, 4.3% of ether extract, and 1.9% of calcium (Wu et al 2019). They are suitable for feeding cattle, sheep, rabbits and other herbivores, and convenient for large-scale Broussonetia papyrifera (BP) belongs to the genus Broussonetia of the mulberry family, which is widely distributed in China, Japan, India and other countries (Penailillo et al 2016).…”

“…Broussonetia papyrifera has recently been used in diets for growth-finishing pigs [17% dry matter (DM)] (Zhang et al 2015), growing rabbits (20% DM) (Wu et al 2019) and lambs (10% DM) (Ma et al 2014). Wu et al (2019) found that replacing lucerne meal with BP can improve growth performance and meat colour of New Zealand White rabbits. Adding 15% of BP to cattle diet can improve meat quality, growth performance, antioxidant function and meat quality (Si et al 2018).…”

Effects of Dietary Paper Mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) on Growth Performance and Muscle Quality of Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)

“…Moreover, it has been widely used in feeding sheep, cows, pigs and so on. The leaves of paper mulberry contain 21.6% of crude protein and 4.3% of ether extract, both of which are higher than that of other forages [3].…”