Intake, milk yield and composition of dairy cows supplemented with chitosan associated with whole raw soybeans in the diets

• Grant number: 13/10677-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2013
• End date: June 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: Francisco Palma Rennó
• Grantee: Mariana Fragoso Rentas
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The use of additives as well as additional sources of fat, has been common practice for ruminants, especially for allowing the improvement of the energy status and growth performance of animals. As an alternative to antibiotic ionophores used since the 1970s, and nowadays banned in the European Union, was recently proposed the use of chitosan to modulate ruminal fermentation and digestion, with promising results. Chitosan (polymer N-acetyl-D-glucosamine) is a biopolymer biodegradable, nontoxic, derived from the deacetylation of chitin, which is, in turn, nature's most abundant biopolymer after cellulose, is the main component of the exoskeleton of crustaceans and insects. For being a by-product of the fishing industry, chitosan has a low cost. Both, the supplemental sources of fat, and the use of additives such as ionophores may influence the ruminal lipid. The biohydrogenation is an important step in ruminal metabolism of fatty acids, a process that reduces the intestinal flow of polyunsaturated fatty acids into the duodenum, which can have an effect nutraceutical and / or moderate the metabolism and physiology of the animal. The hypothesis to be evaluated in this experiment is that the use of chitosan associated with fat supplementation, using whole raw soybean, alters ruminal fermentation and ruminal lipid metabolism, improving milk yield and composition without interfering negatively on consumption of dry matter and nutrients. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of combination of chitosan with whole raw soybean in the diets of lactating dairy cows on dry matter and nutrient intake, milk yield and composition.