Partial replacement of soybean meal with pea grains and sunflower cake in ewe diets: milk quality and blood biochemical parameters

Abstract

The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of pea and sunflower cake as partial replacement for soybean meal in diet, as well as to assess their effect on milk quality during lactation and on blood parameters of ewes kept in organic farming. The research was carried out with 30 ewes of Merinolandschaf breed during 75 days. Ewes were given mixtures based on soybean meal as a protein source in control group (SBM), while in experimental groups, soybean meal was partially replaced with pea grain (P) and sunflower cake (SFC). Biochemical parameters (urea, glucose, total protein, albumin, globulins, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglyceride, β-hydroxybutyrate, and non-esterified fatty acids), as well as enzyme activity (ALT, AST, ALP, GGT, and CK) were determined in blood of ewes. Milk composition and concentration of fatty acids in milk fat were also determined. In comparison with control, sunflower cake as a protein source affected the increase of fat content in milk. When compared with pea grain and SBM, it decreased the urea concentration in milk. Oleic acid, total monounsaturated fatty acids, and n-6 increased, while saturated fatty acids, atherogenic, and thrombogenic indices decreased in SFC. Feeding ewes with peas increased the content of n-3 fatty acids in their milk. If compared to SFC, it also improved the n-6:n-3 ratio. Partial replacement of soybean meal with SFC reduced the blood concentration of total protein, globulin, and AST, and GGT enzyme activities and increased the β-hydroxybutyrate. Inclusion of pea grain and SFC can be adequately used as partial replacement of soybean meal in feeding of ewes kept in organic farming.

Impact of Using Oilseed Industry Byproducts Rich in Linoleic and Alpha-Linolenic Acid in Ruminant Nutrition on Milk Production and Milk Fatty Acid Profile

“…In studies that presented the compositions of treatment diets, an increased fat content was observed in diets supplemented with BPs compared to control diets without BPs [35,36,40,41,[44][45][46]48,66,69], while lower fat content was also noted in some studies [24,37,72]. As stated, variations in the dietary and chemical composition between the control and experimental diets were commonly noted in the mentioned studies investigating the impact of dietary inclusion of oilseed BPs on milk composition.…”

“…Studies examining the use of sunflower BPs in small ruminant diets have yielded mixed results. In the Antunović, et al [69] study, sheep fed sunflower cake (SFCAKE) exhibited higher milk fat content (+20.0%) compared to those fed soybean meal, likely due to the greater fat content in the experimental diet containing SFCAKE (34 vs. 29 g/kg DM). Conversely, Amores, et al [44] observed a significant decrease in milk fat content, which was attributed to the milk fat depression syndrome (induced by the high amount of LA).…”

“…Analyzing the data from Table 3, it becomes apparent that introducing SFCAKE into the diet of dairy ruminants leads to more consistent outcomes in terms of milk FA profile compared to HSCAKE and PSCAKE. Both cows [46,67] and sheep [44,69,70] that were fed SFCAKE produced milk with lower SFA and higher MUFA and PUFA content, with the magnitude of this change being higher with increased intake of oil from the BPs. However, in the Pascual, et al [70] study, SFCAKE increased the milk's n-6 proportion (primarily LA) to a greater extent, resulting in a significant concurrent increase in the milk's n-6/n-3 ratio, irrespective of the forage type.…”

Sunflower Cake from the Biodiesel Industry in the Diet Improves the Performance and Carcass Traits of Nellore Young Bulls

“…The use of sunflower cake reduced the blood concentration of GGT enzymes; however, we do not believe that GGT is related to the addition of sunflower cake because the AST and ALT enzymes did not change. Antunović et al [ 39 ] also observed GGT reduction in lactating cows. The inclusion of sunflower cake in replacement of soybean meal and corn ground increased the serum cholesterol by 78 mg/dL but did not influence the serum triglyceride concentrations, with a mean value of 101 mg/dL.…”