Abstracts Category : Other

TOWARDS THE USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR NUTRITIONAL SAFETY

by Pilotto A

In this thesis five experimental studies were reported with the objective to improve the knowledge and provide new solutions for different and important aspects of dairy cow nutrition. The first trial was performed to examine the relationships between blood concentrations of fatty acids (NEFA), -hydroxybutyrate (BHB) and -tocopherol during the periparturient period in dairy cows. For the study 131 cows from 4 different farms, 2 in Italy and 2 in Greece were used. We determined blood concentrations of NEFA, BHB, and - tocopherol at dry-off, at calving, and 30d postpartum. We found a weak correlation between NEFA and BHB throughout the periparturient period. Negative correlations between NEFA and -tocopherol were highly significant at 30d postpartum and approached the level ofsignificance at dry-off. However, both correlations became nonsignificant following the adjustment of -tocopherol with cholesterol, indicating that the correlations were a reflectionof changes in lipid transport. We found significant negative correlations between BHB and - tocopherol after adjustment with cholesterol. The aims of the second research presented was to understand the effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculation on fermentation products and quality of alfalfa and ryegrass silage and the use of thermal camera and electronic nose to evaluate the silage quality. Wilted ryegrass and alfalfa silage were inoculated with a commercial product containing Lactobacillus Rhamnosus and Lactobacillus Farciminis and stored in triplicate micro fermenters for each treatment. The silos were opened after 2, 5, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days and silages were collected and analyzed. The results obtained showed better acidification of treated silages with pH value lower in both alfalfa and ryegrass silages (P0.01). Alfalfa silage has had higher content of lactic acid (P0.01) with unexpected higher values of NH4 (P0.01). In ryegrass silage the LAB concentration was lower in treated compared to control silage (P0.01). Instead no significant difference of LAB concentration was observed between control and treated alfalfa silages. Strong negative correlation between pH and lactic acid 97% (P0.01) and positive correlation between pH and LAB concentration 93% (P0.01) were observed in alfalfa silage. The LAB concentration was positive correlated with pH value 94% (P0.01). Significant but not strong negative correlation was observed between pH and NH4 33% (P0.05). Probably due to thegood quality of both treated and control silages no differences of temperature were observed. Although, different results were obtained between ryegrass and silage analysis the electronic nose showed promising ability to evaluate the silage quality but further studies will be needed to understand his ability to evaluate the silage quality. In the thirdAdvisors/Committee Members: SAVOINI, GIOVANNI, SAVOINI, GIOVANNI, GANDOLFI, FULVIO.