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Effect of yacon silage on feed digestibility, blood characteristics and amount of urinary 8‐hydroxydeoxyguanosine in ewes
Author(s) -
Koike Akiko,
Pradhan Rajeev,
Murata Tatsuro,
Yasuda Shin,
Igoshi Keiji,
Okamoto Chinobu,
Kabata Kiyotaka
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
grassland science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.388
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1744-697X
pISSN - 1744-6961
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-697x.2010.00180.x
Subject(s) - silage , hay , dry matter , chemistry , zoology , globulin , cynodon dactylon , food science , biology , agronomy , endocrinology
Yacon ( Smallanthus sonchifolius ) is known as a root crop rich in fructans and polyphenol. In the present study, the effects of yacon silage (YS) on body weight change, digestibility of feed, blood characteristics and level of urinary 8‐hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8‐OHdG) in ewes were evaluated. Ewes were fed basal diets (40% of soybean curd residue silage (SS) on a dry matter [DM] basis) supplemented with 60% of YS (YS group) or bermudagrass ( Cynodon dactylon ) hay (BH; BH group) on a DM basis for 36 days. YS did not influence the ewes’ body weight or digestibility of feed. The serum concentrations of total protein, glucose and total cholesterol of the YS group were significantly lower than those of the BH group ( P < 0.05). Also the albumin to globulin (A/G) ratio was significantly higher in the YS group than in the BH group ( P < 0.05). Suppressing the amount of glucose and total cholesterol seems to be an important role of YS rich in polyphenol in the maintenance of ewes’ health. Moreover, the amount of urinary 8‐OHdG showed a lower tendency in the YS group than in the BH group, though it was not significant. From the above results, it is suggested that YS is useful in ruminants as a supplementary feed that has a possibility of health promoting effects.