Abstract

Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) fruits contain bioactive compounds with antimicrobial, antioxidant and hepatoprotective effects. The inclusion of barberry pomace (BP) in finishing diets could potentially enhance growth performance and carcass characteristics of sheep. To test this hypothesis, 21 male Balouchi lambs (24.5 ± 4 kg initial live weight; 5 ± 0.6 months of age) were randomly assigned to three BP-containing experimental diets to determine their effects on feed intake, live weight gain and carcass characteristics. The experimental diets were formulated to meet nutrient requirements for a targeted daily weight gain of 200 g as follows: (1) control diet (BP0), (2) control diet in which 7.5% of alfalfa hay and wheat straw were replaced with BP (BP75), (3) control diet in which 15% of alfalfa hay and wheat straw were replaced with BP (BP150). Lambs were fed the experimental diets for 75 days during which feed intake and live weight changes were recorded. At the end of the feeding period, lambs were fasted for 16 h, weighed and then slaughtered in order to determine carcass characteristics. Experimental diets had no effect on feed intake and growth performance of lambs. Similarly, diets had no effect (p > 0.05) on weight of carcass, commercial cuts (neck, shoulder, loin, leg, fat-tail, brisket, flank) and non-carcass components (head, skin, feet, lung and trachea, heart, liver, spleen, gastro-intestinal, kidney, bladder and testicles) but linearly increased (p < 0.05) warm and cold dressing percentage as well as heart weight. These results do not support the hypothesis that feeding BP-containing diets enhances growth performance and carcass characteristics of male Balouchi lambs. However, inclusion of BP had no negative effects on animal performance and carcass characteristics.

摘要

小檗 ( Berberis vulgaris)) 水果含有具有抗菌、抗氧化和保肝作用的生物活性化合物。在育肥日粮中加入小檗果渣 (BP) 可能会提高绵羊的生长性能和胴体特性。为了验证这一假设，21 只雄性 Balouchi 羔羊（24.5 ± 4 kg 初始活重；5 ± 0.6 月龄）被随机分配到三种含有 BP 的实验饮食中，以确定它们对采食量、活体重增加和胴体特征的影响。实验日粮的配制满足目标日增重 200 g 的营养需求，如下所示：（1）对照日粮（BP0），（2）对照日粮，其中 7.5% 的苜蓿干草和小麦秸秆被 BP 替代（ BP75), (3) 对照日粮，其中 15% 的苜蓿干草和小麦秸秆被 BP (BP150) 替代。给羔羊喂食实验日粮 75 天，在此期间记录采食量和活体重变化。在饲养期结束时，羔羊禁食 16 小时，称重，然后屠宰以确定胴体特征。实验日粮对羔羊的采食量和生长性能没有影响。同样，饮食也没有影响（p  > 0.05) 屠体、商业切割（颈部、肩部、腰部、腿部、肥尾、胸肉、侧腹）和非屠体成分（头、皮肤、脚、肺和气管、心脏、肝脏、脾脏、胃肠道、肾脏、膀胱和睾丸）但呈线性增加（p  < 0.05）温敷和冷敷百分比以及心脏重量。这些结果不支持饲喂含 BP 日粮提高雄性 Balouchi 羔羊的生长性能和胴体特征的假设。然而，添加 BP 对动物性能和胴体特征没有负面影响。