MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study design was a completely randomized design, with 16 pelung cockerels aged 40-56 weeks divided into four treatment groups: T0 (control); T1 (BCSP [A. granosa] 0.9 mg/kg BW); T2 (zinc sulfate [ZnSO4] 0.9 mg/kg BW); and T3 (testosterone 3 mg/day). The animals were acclimatized for 7 days and then given dietary treatments for 56 days. The measurement of the comb, wattle, and chest circumference (CC) of pelung cockerels was performed on days 0, 14, 28, 42, and 56. At the end of the treatment, the pelung cockerels were sacrificed and the data of the pectoralis muscle weight (PMW), testis weight (TW), and area of the pectoralis muscle (APM) were measured. Samples of pectoralis muscle and testes were taken and fixed in 10% neutral buffer formalin for histology. The proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was identified by immunohistochemical staining. To measure fascicle area (FA), myofiber area (MA), and enumerate, the fascicle myofibers (NM) histology preparations were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H and E). Testicular preparations were stained with H and E to measure the diameter of the seminiferous tubules (DST) using ImageJ software.
RESULTS: The growth performance on day 56 showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher differences of CC in T1 compared to T2 and T0, in T1 and T3 compared to T0, and in T3 and T2 compared to T0. Pectoralis muscle results, that is, FA, NM, MA, and PCNA-positive cells, showed that cockerels on treatment T3 had significantly higher results than other treatments, T1 was significantly different from T2 and T0, and T2 was significantly different from T0. In addition, the TW and DST measurement of cockerels on treatment T3 were significantly reduced (p < 0.05) than the other treatment groups.
CONCLUSION: The oral administration of BCSP in the role of a NAB at a dose of 0.9 mg/kg BW for 56 days improved the growth performance and pectoralis muscle, especially the CC, FA, NM, MA, and PCNA-positive cells parameters, but did not affect the PMW, APM, and testis of pelung cockerels. The administration of testosterone at 3 mg/day for 56 days contributed to the decrease in TW and DST, as well as atrophy of the seminiferous tubules of pelung cockerels.
RESULTS: The results show that the LL muscle-drip loss was greater in animals supplemented with 5% corn compared to the other groups. Higher pH values of SS and LL muscles were observed in animals supplemented with 5 and 10% corn. Furthermore, the L* value of ST muscle was increased in lambs fed on 5% corn while, reduced in those fed on 0% corn, but the a* and b* values were not significantly different in the treatment groups. The fatty acid composition of the SS muscles showed that lambs fed on 10% corn had higher levels of sum PUFA n-3 compared to those fed on 0% corn. The concentration of C18:1trans11 and CLA c12 t10 in ST muscle from the lambs fed on supplemented diets were higher than those of the controls.
CONCLUSION: This study has concluded the supplementation of corn as a source of energy into a PKC urea-treated rice straw-based diet increased the PUFA concentrations of muscles as compared to control groups.
RESULTS: Rumen ammonia concentration was higher in CNT group compared to treatment groups receiving dietary oils. The total VFA and acetate concentration were higher in SF and OL groups, which showed that they were significantly affected by the dietary treatments. There were no differences in total microbial population. However, fibre degrading bacteria populations were affected by the interaction between treatment and day of sampling. Significant differences were observed in apparent digestibility of crude protein and ether extract of treatment groups containing dietary oils compared to the control group.
CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that supplementation of different dietary oils containing different fatty acid profiles improved rumen fermentation by reducing ammonia concentration and increasing total VFA concentration, altering fibre degrading bacteria population, and improving apparent digestibility of crude protein and ether extract.
RESULTS: The rumen pH and concentration of propionate were greater (P