A study was conducted to assess the effect of feeding different crude protein (CP) levels with isocaloric metabolizable energy (ME) diets on growth performance, carcass traits, and myostatin (MSTN) gene expression of Aseel chicken during 0 to 16 weeks of age. A total of two hundred and ten day-old Aseel chickens were randomly allotted to seven dietary treatment groups. Each group had thirty chicks distributed into three replicates of ten chicks in each. Experimental diets were formulated to have varying levels of CP, viz. 18.5, 19.0, 19.5, 20.0, 20.5, 21.0, and 21.5%, with isocaloric energy of 2800 kcal ME/kg diets of mash feed fed to birds in a completely randomized design. Different CP levels had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on the body weight gain (BWG) of Aseel chicken. At the end of 16 weeks of age, the group fed 21% CP gained 223.53 g more than the lowest CP (18.5%)-fed group. The different CP levels did not significantly (P > 0.05) influenced the feed intake of all treatment groups, but numerically highest feed intake was observed in the lowest CP (18.5%)-fed group. However, significant differences in feed efficiency (FE) appeared from the 13th week only with the 21.0% CP-fed group showing the best FE until the 16th week (3.86 to 4.06). The maximum dressing % (70.61) was observed by the 21% CP-fed group. The CP 21% diet down-regulated the MSTN gene expression in breast muscle tissue to 0.07 folds when compared to the diet of CP 20%. The best economical coordinates for maximum performance for Aseel chicken appeared to be CP of 21% and ME of 2800 kcal/kg to achieve the best FE of 3.86 at the earliest age of 13 weeks. In conclusion, 21% CP in an isocaloric diet of 2800 kcal ME/kg, in Aseel chickens, would be optimum to improve the growth performance at maximum in terms of BWG and FE up to 16 weeks of age.

Background: Pearl millet is rich in dietary fiber and micro-nutrients such as vitamins and minerals apart from the carbohydrates, protein and fat. This study was conducted to fortify low fat chicken meat balls with pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) as a dietary fibre source and to assess the physico-chemical, sensory and textural properties. Methods: Emulsion based low fat chicken meat balls were prepared with the addition of Pearl millet flour (PMF) at levels of 4%, 7% and 10%, over and above the amount of meat along with a control and analysed for physico-chemical, textural and sensory properties. Result: In the physico-chemical properties, Emulsion pH, product pH and emulsion stability were not affected by the addition of PMF. Product yield was significantly (P≤0.01) lowered at 4 per cent level of PMF, but increased at higher levels of PMF inclusion. In texture analyses, hardness and cohesiveness were not affected by inclusion of PMF up to 7%. In sensory evaluation, though the scores for texture, tenderness and overall acceptability of 4% treatment were comparable with that of control and significantly (P≤0.01) decreased with increase in the level of PMF, the scores for 7% treatment were above ‘Very acceptable’ level. It is concluded emulsion based functional low fat chicken meat balls could be fortified with pearl millet flour up to a level of 7% without affecting the quality characteristics.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the antioxidant potential of Indian gooseberry (Emblica officinalis) paste in chicken meatballs and its effect on physicochemical and sensory properties. Chicken meatballs were prepared with the inclusion of Indian gooseberry paste (GBP) at 0, 12%, 15%, and 18% levels. The emulsion pH, product pH, emulsion stability, and product yield were determined. DPPH Scavenging Activity (%) was studied to establish the antioxidant potential of the GBP in the product. Sensory properties were evaluated using 8 points hedonic scale. Emulsion pH and Product pH decreased significantly (P<0.05) with the addition of GBP. Product yield decreased significantly (P<0.05) with the addition of GBP for 15% and 18% levels. DPPH scavenging activity significantly (P<0.01) increased with an increase in the GBP inclusion level, where 18% treatment had the highest antioxidant potential followed by 15% and 12% treatments. The sensory scores for control and 12% treatment were comparable and significantly (P<0.05) lower for 15% and 18% treatments. From this study, it was observed that Indian gooseberry paste could be added as a potential antioxidant in the chicken meatballs, up to a level of 12% without affecting the sensory qualities of the product.

This study was conducted to fortify low-fat chicken meatballs with dried carrot pomace as dietary fibre (DF) source and to assess the physicochemical and sensory properties. Carrot pomace was dried and made into powder. Emulsion-based low-fat chicken meatballs were prepared with the addition of carrot pomace powder (CPP) at levels of 1%, 2%, and 3%, over and above the amount of meat along with a control. In the physicochemical properties, there was no significant difference in the emulsion pH, product pH, and emulsion stability among the treatments. Product yield significantly (p≤0.01) increased with the addition of CPP at 2% and 3%. In sensory evaluation, the appearance score was significantly (p≤0.01) lowest for the 3% level. Juiciness, texture, and tenderness scores decreased with the addition of CPP where 3% level had the lowest scores. The flavour and overall acceptability scores significantly (p≤0.01) decreased with the addition of CPP where 1% and 2% had scores more the ‘moderately acceptable’ level and 3% had the lowest score which was only ‘slightly acceptable’. It is concluded that emulsion-based low-fat chicken meatballs could be fortified with dietary fibre content by the inclusion of carrot pomace powder up to a level of 2% without significantly affecting the sensory qualities.

The risk of heavy metals contamination in meat and meat products is of great concern for both food safety and from human health point of view. The present study was carried out to assess the heavy metal residues such as Pb, Cd, As and Hg in broiler chicken meat, neck and edible organs (liver and kidney). In the present study, 150 samples were randomly collected from major cities (Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy, and Salem) of Tamil Nadu state, India and analyzed for Pb, Cd, As and Hg residues (mg/kg) using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) technique. The results revealed that lead (Pb) concentration was higher in meat and liver samples of all cities and the highest concentration was detected in Chennai followed by Coimbatore, whereas in kidney and neck samples, Chennai metropolitan alone exceeded the MRL value of 0.5 and 0.1 mg/kg respectively. The residues of cadmium and mercury in meat and meat samples were within the permissible limit in all the metropolitans. Arsenic was found exceeding the MRL of 0.1 mg/kg in the breast samples of all the metropolitans (0.2141-2.2285 mg/kg, the highest being in Trichy), except for Madurai, which recorded very low value (0.0239 mg/kg). Arsenic was found in the range of 0.1110-1.0850 mg/kg in liver samples thus exceeding MRL value. Neck and kidney samples did not contain any Arsenic. Thus it can be concluded that the lead concentration in meat and edible organ samples collected from all the metropolitans exceeded the MRL values and is an indication of contamination. Appropriate precautions are warranted to minimize the heavy metal consumption contamination especially of Pb and As.

The investigation on various physical dimensions of green peas (Pisum sativum L) was conducted in which included two pre treatments (un-blanched and blanched). Matured fresh green peas were procured from APMC market, Navsari and deshelled manually to prepare samples. Green peas were blanched at 85 °C for 1 min and cooled in running water and removed the surface moisture. The physical dimensions of unblanched and blanched fresh green peas in terms of physical parameters such as test weight (g), size and shape, sphericity, volume (cm3), shrinkage ratio were studied. The average test weight (1000 seed), mean length, width, thickness, arithmetic mean diameter, geometric mean diameter and sphericity of green peas were 516.2 g, 11.34 mm, 10.82 mm, 10.38 mm, 10.84 mm, 10.85 mm and 0.942, respectively. The average surface areas, volume, shrinkage ratio of green peas were 258.68 mm2, 99.97 cm3 and 1.0, respectively.

A study was undertaken to assess the mycotoxins occurrences in pearl millet (Bajra). A total of 121 samples of pearl millet samples received from all over the country were subjected to semi quantitative multimycotoxin method for the determination of aflatoxin (B1, B2, G1 and G2), ochratoxin A, citrinin and T2-toxin. Out of the samples tested, about 52.07% samples were found to be contaminated with any one of the mycotoxins tested. Of the mycotoxin tested, aflatoxin B1 is the predominate one with 45.45% occurrence followed by aflatoxin B2 (28.93%). Ochratoxin A (OTA) and Citrinin were detected in 8.16% and 7.14% samples. Further, 7.14% of the samples found to have co-occurrence of more than one mycotoxins viz., aflatoxin, ochratoxin A and Citrinin. Maximum concentration of AflatoxinB1, B2, ochratoxin A and citrinin are detected at 150, 40, 405 and 2070 µg/kg respectively. The study concludes that co-occurrence of mycotoxins in pearl millet.

A study was undertaken (February to August 2019) to assess the performance of Salem Black does fed on graded levels of concentrate feed in critical physiological stages viz., prior to and after breeding (21 d each), late gestation (last 28 d) and early lactation (up to 28 d). A total of 32 does of similar body weight (29 kg) and age (2 to 5 yr) were divided into four groups with eight each. The does under T, were allowed for grazing (6 h) alone, whereas the does under T2, T3, and T4 groups were offered concentrate feed daily @ 100, 200 and 300 g, respectively, besides grazing. The body weight gain after flushing were significantly higher (p<0.01) among the supplemented groups (T2, T3, and T4) whereas body weight loss was observed in T, group (−0.44±0.23 kg). Similarly, the body condition score of does after flushing and steaming up were 3.13 to 4.00 in supplemented groups (T2, T3, and T4) and 2.63 to 3.30 in T,. The number of services required per pregnancy ranged from 1.25 (T4) to 1.88 (T,) and did not differ significantly among the groups. The mean birth weight of kids was significantly higher (p<0.05) in T4 (2.3 2kg) than T, (1.98 kg), T2 (2.11 kg) and T3 (2.22 kg). The results indicated that the supplementation of concentrate feed @ 300 g to Salem Black goats improved body weight gain during flushing, pregnancy and birth weight of kids born as compared to non-supplemented group maintained on grazing only.

A study was conducted to assess the viability of spray dried probiotics in crumble feed during storage. The Bacillus subtilis (T1), Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (T2), Bacillus coagulans (T3), Bacillus clausii (T4), Lactobacillus acidophilus (T5) and Bifidobacterium bifidum (T6) cultures were propagated using skim milk and spray dried by using spray drier. The spray dried probiotic powder was diluted with water and sprayed on broiler crumble feed. After spraying, crumble feed was stored in room temperature (25-33°C) for 0,7 and 14 days and the viability of probiotics was assessed before and after spray drying and during storage with crumble feed. B. clausii showed better yield after spray drying while B. subtilis showed highest survival rate (83%) among all probiotics studied. At the end of 14 days of storage, the survival rate was maximum in B. amyloliquefaciens among spore forming probiotics (95.61%) and among non-spore forming probiotics the B. bifidum (85.24%) evinced better survival.

An experiment was conducted to ascertain the efficacy of adding chelated zinc on milk production of lactating cows across various stages of lactation.Twelve cross-bred cows were selected from different locations of Alwar district of Rajasthan and randomly assigned to three groups for receiving either chelated or inorganic sources of zinc, organic zinc glutamate and inorganic zinc oxide (n=4).The experimental treatments include control, T 1 -zinc-citrate glutamate (organic mineral @ 9.26g/cow/day) and T 2 -zinc oxide (inorganic mineral @ 0.833g/cow/day).The cost effectiveness of zinc-citrate glutamate and zinc oxide supplements needed for producing 1 litre of milk was calculated using the data on total milk yield during the experimental period and cost of zinc supplements used.From the present study, it could be concluded that the group supplemented with organic zinc had better returns over other groups that feeding of organic zinc (zinccitrate glutamate) in dairy cows. K e y w o r d sZinc chelate, zinc oxide, milk yield and economics

A feeding trial was carried out for three months to assess the post-weaning growth, carcass traits and economics in Salem Black kids fed different levels of concentrate supplement (CS). Thirty-two weaned kids from a previous experiment were divided into four treatment groups namely T-1,T-2, T-3, and T-4 (comprising four male and four females in each) at the age of three months. The kids of all groups were allowed for 6 h grazing daily. While the kids of T-1 were not supplemented and served as a control, the kids of T-2, T-3 and T-4 groups were offered CS at 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 per cent of BW, respectively. At the end of the feeding trial, four representative animals from each group were slaughtered for assessing the carcass traits. Results revealed that net BW gain and ADG were higher (P<0.01) in T-3 and T-4 groups as compared to the T-1 group. The ADG recorded was 41.64, 46.61, 51. 47 and 58.45 g in T-1, T-2, T-3, and T-4 groups, respectively. When compared to T-1 the ADG was 11.9, 23.6 and 40.4 per cent more in T2, T3 and T-4 groups, respectively. Similarly, the CS-supplemented kids had better (P<0.01) carcass traits in terms of dressing percentage, loin eye area, carcass length. The weight of cut-up parts viz., leg, loin, rack were also higher (P<0.01) in CS-supplemented groups. Feeding of CS resulted in better economic returns. It is concluded that supplementation of CS at the rate of 2.5 per cent of BW during the post-weaning period improved the body weight gain, carcass traits and monetary returns in Salem Black kids.

Objective: We retrospectively investigated the effects of adding HCQ 400 mg in patients with type 2 diabetes showing sub-optimal control by basal insulin and other OHA therapy. Method: This is an open label, parallel group, retrospective and multicentre observational study. 123 patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes (baseline HbA1c 8.5 ± 0.6%) who are on basal insulin (glargine) with other OHA therapy (metformin 1gm+Sitagliptin 100 mg), were given HCQ 400 mg in addition to insulin. FPG, PPG and HbA1c values, daily insulin dose, body weight and the number of hypoglycemic events were recorded at weeks 0, 12 and 24. Result: HbA1c decreased by 1.6%, from 8.5 ± 0.6% to 6.9 ± 0.8% (P<0.0001) at 24 weeks. FPG and PPG was reduced significantly from 223.7 ± 31 to 121± 19 mg/dl and from 313.2 ± 41 to 161± 21 mg/dl at the end of 24 week (P<0.0001). Required insulin dose was reduced significantly from 29.4 ± 14.5 to 22.1 ± 12.1 units/day (P= 0.0187). Body weight decreased significantly from 69.5 ± 5.2 to 67.0 ± 6.7 kg, (P= 0.0232). Numbers of hypoglycemic events per patient per month were 0.25 ± 0.35. No severe hypoglycemia occurred during the study period. 56% patients achieved HbA1c ≤ 7% at 24 weeks. Conclusion: Administration of HCQ 400 mg resulted in sustained improvement in glycemic control when given as an adjunct to insulin therapy in patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. Disclosure R. Ahmed: None. A. Sharma: None. A. Natarajan: None. D. Agarwal: None. A. Narayanan: None.

Analysis of nitroimidazole antibiotic compounds viz., dimetridazole, metronidazole and ronidazole requires a highly selective and accurate determination in UPLC-MS/MS for which suitability of three different columns (C8, C18 and C18-HILIC) were evaluated based on their retentivity, tailing factor, MS sensitivity and resolution for three different nitroimidazole compounds in chicken meat. Three nitroimidazole compounds of A6 group are individually set at 1μg/kg of chicken meat as MRL by Export Inspection Council of India for export. Residue free chicken meat was spiked with dimetridazole, metronidazole and ronidazole each at 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 5.0 and 10.0 μg/kg along with metronidazole D4 as internal standard. TIC and MRM for the three nitroimidazole compounds using three columns were obtained. Upon comparison of chromatograms for the three different columns at the selected 0.5 μg/kg which is 50% below the MRL value of nitroimidazole compounds, C18-HILIC showed good peak response, higher MS sensitivity and minimal tailing effect than the C8 and C18 columns. However, the retentivity was found to be similar in all the columns (RT < 2.0 min). Linearity study revealed that the C18-HILIC column showed maximum correlation coefficient of 0.9964, 0.9963 and 0.9983 for dimetridazole, metronidazole and ronidazole respectively in chicken meat samples when compared to C18 (0.9331, 0.9166 and 0.9514) and C8 (0.9793, 0.9859 and 0.9656) elution. A validation study on C18HILIC column was carried out. It is concluded that C18-HILIC column is suitable for quantitative UPLC-MS/MS estimation of nitroimidazole compounds in chicken meat.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the synergistic effect of cinnamon oil and sodium butyrate on growth performance of broiler chicken. Day-old broiler chicks (Vencobb, n=216) were distributed into six experimental groups with six replicates and six birds in each replicate. The experimental groups were fed with control ration (T1), ration with oxytetracycline (OTC) antibiotic (T2), ration with cinnamon oil (CO) at 250 mg per kg and coated sodium butyrate either at 0.09 (T3) or 0.18 (T4) per cent and ration with cinnamon oil at 500 mg per kg and coated sodium butyrate either at 0.09 (T5) or 0.18 (T6) per cent. Coated sodium butyrate (CSB) used was lipid encapsulated sodium butyrate. The trial was carried out in deep litter pen for 35 days. Birds in the group with CO at 250 mg per kg and CSB either at 0.09 (T3) or 0.18 (T4) per cent levels and CO at 500 mg per kg and CSB at 0.09 per cent (T5) showed comparable performance in terms of weight gain, feed intake and feed efficiency to that of birds supplemented with antibiotic in feed (OTC-50 mg/kg). Cinnamon oil at 500 mg per kg and CSB at 0.09 per cent (T6) significantly (P<0.01) elicited poor performance in terms of weight gain, feed intake and feed efficiency. It was concluded that the low level of cinnamon oil at 250 mg/kg and coated sodium butyrate 0.09 per cent of ration effectively improved the performance of broilers.

A six weeks trial was carried out to study the effect of feeding cottonseed meal (CSM) with 432, day - old Cobb 400 broiler chicks distributed to nine experimental diets with six replicates, each containing eight chicks. The experimental diets were formulated based on total amino acids (TAA) or based on digestible amino acids (DAA) with or without iron supplementation with two levels of CSM (2 and 4%) and control diet based on maize – soyabean. Birds fed with CSM at 4% DAA without iron supplementation had higher body weight gain than the control (1918 vs 1804g). Feed intake and feed efficiency were comparable in birds fed with different experimental diets. Inclusion of CSM up to 4% TAA or DAA with or without iron supplementation had comparable dressing percentage, gizzard, giblet (% of live body weight) and spleen (g). The liver weight (% of live weight) was lower in birds fed 4% CSM - TAA and 2 or 4% CSM - DAA with or without iron supplementation (1.45 – 1.53 vs 1.65%). Heart weight was higher (0.91 vs 0.80% of live weight) and abdominal fat (15.42 vs 24.0g) was lowered in 4% CSM - DAA with iron supplementation. The cost of feed/kg live weight gain in the diet of 4% CSM - DAA was lowest (52.77), followed by 4% CSM - TAA (55.43) and the difference with control was Rs 5.43 and Rs 2.77 respectively. The overall performance based on body weight gain, feed intake and feed efficiency was better in the diet formulated with 4% level of CSM - DAA.

An experiment was conducted with 64 weaned Soviet Chinchilla rabbits of divided in to eight treatments consisting of eight animals in each treatment to find out the effect of vitamin C, E and selenium in alone or combinations on their carcass characters during the period of heat stress. The dietary supplementation of vitamin C (T2) was given at the dose rate of (200mg per kg diet), vitamin E (T3) (40 mg per kg diet) and Selenium (T4) (0.2 mg per kg diet) and in combinations of C and E (T5) (200 and 40 mg per kg diet), C and Selenium (T6) (200 and 0.2 mg per kg diet), E and selenium (T7) (40 and 0.2 mg per kg diet) and Vitamin C, E and selenium (T8) (200, 40 and 0.2 mg per kg diet) respectively. This study was undertaken at the rabbit unit of Livestock Farm Complex, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal. Among the various supplementations vitamin C, E and selenium combinations showed the highly significantly by (P<0.01) higher weight at slaughter (2230.16 ± 59.88), carcass weight (1244.66 ± 39.25) and dressing percentage (55.80 ± 0.71) but there was no significant difference noted in the weight of foreleg (183.50 ± 0.88), chest and back (283.00 ± 0.68), loin and flank (285.00 ± 0.51), pelt (260.00 ± 30.81) and hind leg (383.00 ± 2.08). The weight of edible offal’s showed no significant difference in the carcass characters supplemented with vitamin C, E and selenium during the period of heat stress.