The effects of dietary supplementation of selenium (Se), iodine (I), and a combination of both on the blood haematology, serum free thyroxine (FT4) and free triiodothyronine (FT3) hormones and glutathione peroxidase enzyme (GSH-Px) activity were examined on twenty four (7 to 8 months old, 22±1.17 kg live weight) Kacang crossbred male goats. Animals were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments (6 animals in each group). Throughout 100 d of feeding trial, the animals of control group (CON) received a basal diet, while the other three groups were offered basal diet supplemented with 0.6 mg/kg diet DM Se (SS), or 0.6 mg/kg diet DM I (PI), or a combination of both Se and I, each at 0.6 mg/kg diet DM (SSPI). The haematological attributes which are haemoglobin (Hb), red blood cell (RBC), packed cell volume (PCV), mean cell volume (MCV), white blood cells (WBC), band neutrophils (B Neut), segmented neutrophils (S Neut), lymphocytes (Lymph), monocytes (Mono), eosinophils (Eosin) and basophils (Baso) were similar among the four treatment groups, while serum levels of Se and I increased significantly (p<0.05) in the supplemented groups. The combined dietary supplementation of Se and I (SSPI) significantly increased serum FT3 in the supplemented animals. Serum GSH-Px activity increased significantly in the animals of SS and SSPI groups. It is concluded that the dietary supplementation of inorganic Se and I at a level of 0.6 mg/kg DM increased serum Se and I concentration, FT3 hormone and GSH-Px activity of Kacang crossbred male goats.
Fat and fatty acids in muscle and adipose tissues are among the major factors influencing meat quality particularly nutritional value and palatability. The present study was carried out to examine the effects of supplementing inorganic selenium (Se), iodine (I) and a combination of both on fatty acid compositions in serum, and supraspinatus (SS), longissimus lumborum (LL), and semitendinosus (ST) muscles in goats. Twenty-four, 7 to 8 months old, Kacang male goats with a mean live weight of 22.00±1.17 kg were individually and randomly assigned into four groups of six animals each for 100 d of feeding prior to slaughter. The animals were offered the same concentrate (basal) diet as 1% of body weight with ad libitum amount of fresh guinea grass. The four groups were as follows: T1 (control) - basal diet without supplementation; T2 - basal diet with 0.6 mg Se/kg DM; T3 - basal diet with 0.6 mg I/kg DM; T4 - basal diet with combination of 0.6 mg Se/kg DM and 0.6 mg I/kg DM. The major fatty acids (FAs) detected in the serum were palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0), oleic (C18:1n9) and linoleic (C18:2n-6), while the major FAs in the selected muscles were C16:0, C18:0 and C18:1n9 acids. The main polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) detected in muscles and serum were (CI8:2n-6), linolenic acid (C18:3n-3), and arachidonic acid (C20:4n-6). No significant differences (p>0.05) were observed in the concentration of total saturated fatty acids (SFA) among the four groups. PUFA concentrations in the goats supplemented with Se (T2) were significantly higher (p<0.05) than the goats of the control group (T1). The PUFA: SFA ratio was significantly higher in the animals supplemented with dietary Se (T2) than those of control ones (T1). It is concluded that dietary supplementation of inorganic Se increased the unsaturated fatty acids in muscle. The supplementation of iodine with or without Se had negligible effects on muscle fatty acid content of Kacang crossbred male goats.
Dietary supplementation of unsaturated fats in ruminants, if not stabilized, can instigate oxidative stress which can have negative impact on production performance and enhance the susceptibility to various diseases. The current study examined the effect of dietary 80 % canola oil and 20 % palm oil blend (CPOB) on serum fatty acids, antioxidant profile and biochemical indices in goats. Thirty Boer bucks (4-5 months old; initial BW, 20.34 ± 0.77 kg) were randomly assigned to diets containing 0, 4 or 8 % CPOB and fed daily for a period of 90 days. Blood was sampled from the goats on 0, 30, 60 and 90 days of the trial and the serum was analyzed for fatty acids, cholesterol, glucose, total protein, antioxidants and lipid oxidation.
This experiment aimed to determine microbial spoilage and lipid and protein oxidation during aerobic refrigerated (4°C) storage of rabbit meat. Forty male New Zealand white rabbits were slaughtered according to the Halal slaughter procedure. The hind limbs were used for microbial analysis while the Longissimus lumborum m. was used for determination of lipid and protein oxidation. Bacterial counts generally increased with aging time and the limit for fresh meat (10(8)cfu/g) was reached at d 7 postmortem. Significant differences in malondialdehyde content were observed after 3d of storage. The thiol concentration significantly decreased with increase in aging time. The band intensities of myosin heavy chain and troponin T significantly reduced with increased refrigerated storage while actin remained relatively stable. This study thus proposes protein oxidation as a potential deteriorative change in refrigerated rabbit meat along with microbial spoilage and lipid oxidation.
Traditional halal slaughter and other forms of religious slaughter are still an issue of debate. Opposing arguments related to pre-slaughter handling, stress and pain associated with restraint, whether the incision is painful or not, and the onset of unconsciousness have been put forward, but no consensus has been achieved. There is a need to strike a balance between halal bleeding in the light of science and animal welfare. There is a paucity of scientific data with respect to animal welfare, particularly the use of restraining devices, animal handling, and efficient halal bleeding. However, this review found that competent handling of animals, proper use of restraining devices, and the efficient bleeding process that follows halal slaughter maintains meat eating quality. In conclusion, halal bleeding, when carried out in accordance with recommended animal welfare procedures, will not only maintain the quality and wholesomeness of meat but could also potentially reduce suffering and pain. Maintained meat quality increases consumer satisfaction and food safety.
The transformation of an animal into pieces fit for human consumption is a very important operation. Rather than argue about halal slaughter without stunning being inhumane or stunning being controversial from the Islamic point of view, we discuss slaughter, stunning and animal welfare considering both Islamic and animal welfare legislation requirements. With the world Muslim population close to two billion, the provision of halal meat for the Muslim community is important both ethically and economically. However, from the animal welfare standard point of view, a number of issues have been raised about halal slaughter without stunning, particularly, about stressful methods of restraint and the latency of the onset of unconsciousness. This paper sets out to, discuss the methods of stunning that are acceptable by Islamic authorities, highlight the requirements for stunning to be acceptable in Islam and suggest practical ways to improve the humanness of slaughter.
This study assessed the effects of dietary selenium (Se), iodine (I) and a combination of both on growth performance, thyroid gland activity, carcass characteristics and the concentration of iodine and selenium in Longissimus lumborum (LL) muscle in goats. Twenty-four bucks were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments: control (CON), basal diet without supplementation, basal diet + 0.6 mg Se/kg dry matter (DM) (SS), 0.6 mg I/kg DM (IP), or combination of 0.6 mg/kg DM Se and 0.6 mg/kg DM I (SSIP) and fed for 100 days. Animals fed diet SSIP exhibited higher (P < 0.05) body weight and better feed conversion ratio (FCR) than those fed other diets. Dressing percentage of goats fed the supplemented diets was higher (P < 0.05) than that of the control. Carcasses from the IP group had higher (P < 0.05) total fat proportion than the SSIP group. The levels of both elements were significantly elevated (P < 0.05) in LL muscle in supplemented goats. Thyroid follicular epithelial cells of IP and SSIP animals were significantly higher than those of CON and SS groups. The study demonstrated that the combined Se and I dietary supplementation improves growth performance, carcass dressing percentage and increases the retention of Se and I in goat meat.
A study was conducted to compare the effect of halal slaughter without stunning and gas stun killing followed by bleeding on residual blood content and storage stability of rabbit meat. Eighty male New Zealand white rabbits were divided into two groups of 40 animals each and subjected to either halal slaughter without stunning (HS) or gas stun-kill (GK). The volume of blood lost during exsanguination was measured. Residual blood was further quantified by determination of haemoglobin content in Longissimus lumborum (LL) muscle. Storage stability of the meat was evaluated by microbiological analysis and measuring lipid oxidation in terms of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). HS resulted in significantly higher blood loss than GK. HS had significantly lower residual haemoglobin in LL muscle compared to GK. Slaughter method had no effect on rabbit meat lipid oxidation at 0, 1, and 3 d postmortem. However, at 5 and 8 days of storage at 4°C, significant differences (p<0.05) were found, with meat from the GK group exhibiting significantly higher levels of MDA than that from HS. At day 3, greater growth of Pseudomonas aeroginosa and E. coli were observed in the GK group (p<0.05) with B. thermosphacta and total aerobic counts remained unaffected by slaughter method. At days 5 and 7 postmortem, bacterial counts for all tested microbes were affected by slaughter method, with GK exhibiting significantly higher growth than HS. It can be concluded that slaughter method can affect keeping quality of rabbit meat, and HS may be a favourable option compared to GK due to high bleed out.
Unlike Europe (particularly, Italy and Spain), where a number of studies have been conducted on the stressful effects of transport on rabbit welfare, few studies have been conducted on transportation of rabbits under hot, humid tropical conditions experienced in countries like Malaysia. We studied the effects of transportation in hot humid tropical conditions of Malaysia on physiometabolic changes in New Zealand white rabbits. Eighty experimental animals were divided into two groups of 40 bucks each and transported for either 3 or 1 h. Transportation caused a significant upsurge of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and creatine kinase activities (p<0.001) though did not significantly affect lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity (p = 0.0706). Both transportation periods caused elevation in plasma glucose levels, lactic acidosis and dehydration as evidenced through elevated packed cell volume and plasma protein concentration. It was concluded that regardless of the duration, transport of rabbits under hot humid tropical conditions, resulted in heat distress since the rabbits showed hyperglycemia, hypercalcemia, lactacidemia, lymphocytopenia, dehydration and increase in blood enzyme activities.
Examined was the effect of post mortem refrigerated storage on microbial spoilage, lipid-protein oxidation and physicochemical traits of goat meat. Seven Boer bucks were slaughtered, eviscerated and aged for 24 h. The Longissimus lumborum (LL) and Semitendinosus (ST) muscles were excised and subjected to 13 days post mortem refrigerated storage. The pH, lipid and protein oxidation, tenderness, color and drip loss were determined in LL while microbiological analysis was performed on ST. Bacterial counts generally increased with increasing aging time and the limit for fresh meat was reached at day 14 post mortem. Significant differences were observed in malondialdehyde (MDA) content at day 7 of storage. The thiol concentration significantly reduced as aging time increased. The band intensities of myosin heavy chain (MHC) and troponin-T significantly decreased as storage progressed, while actin remained relatively stable. After 14 days of aging, tenderness showed significant improvement while muscle pH and drip loss reduced with increase in storage time. Samples aged for 14 days had higher lightness (P