The response of nutrient status and biochemical processes in (i) Wistar and (ii) spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats upon dietary intake of selenium- (Se-) enriched defatted rapeseed (DRS) and/or vitamin E fortification was examined to assess the health benefit of DRS in animal nutrition. Twenty-four individuals of each type of rat were used: The control group was fed with an untreated diet (Diet A). In Diets B and C, soybean meal was replaced with defatted DRS, which comprised 14% of the total diet. The selenized DRS application resulted in ~3-fold increase of Se content in the diet. Diet C was also fortified with the addition of vitamin E, increasing the natural content by 30%. The Se content of the blood and kidneys tended to increase in the DRS groups, where the changes were significant (P < 0.05) only in the case of SHR rats. The iodine (I) content and the proportion of iodide in rat livers indicated a lower transformation rate of iodide into organoiodine compounds compared to the control. Slight and ambiguous alterations in the antioxidative response of the rat were observed in the DRS groups, but the addition of vitamin E to the diet helped to moderate these effects.

Skřivan M., Marounek M., Englmaierová M., Skřivanová E., Růnová K. (2018): Effect of freeze-dried pasture herbage on ileal digestibility of amino acids and fatty acids in chickens. Czech J. Anim. Sci., 63, 222-229.The ileal digestibility of amino acids and fatty acids in young chickens fed control diet or experimental diets supplemented with freeze-dried pasture herbage at 20 or 40 g/kg was studied. Control diet contained wheat, maize, and soybean meal. Predominant species in the pasture herbage harvested in May were Lolium perenne, Festuca pratensis, and Trifolium pratense. Freeze-dried pasture herbage contained less protein (169 g/kg) and fat (24 g/kg) and more neutral detergent and acid detergent fibre (340 and 210 g/kg) and tannins (12.38 g/kg) than control diet. Concentrations of amino acids, except phenylalanine and threonine, were lower in pasture herbage than in control feed. In both the control feed and freeze-dried pasture herbage, unsaturated fatty acids occurred in higher proportions than saturated fatty acids. In freeze-dried pasture herbage linolenic acid was the main fatty acid. In chickens fed freeze-dried pasture herbage the ileal digestibility of amino acids and fatty acids decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Freeze-dried pasture herbage at 4% in diet had negative effect (P < 0.05) on the digestibility of amino acids and fatty acids in comparison with control diet. But there was no significant effect of 2% freeze-dried pasture herbage in diet on amino acids digestibility. This suggests that pasture herbage contains anti-nutritional factors that inhibit proteolysis and lipolysis. The effect of pasture herbage on digestibility was variable. In chickens fed diets containing 4% freeze-dried pasture herbage, apparent ileal digestibility of amino acids varied from 0.39 (cysteine) to 0.91 (methionine). Variability in the ileal digestibility of fatty acids was less pronounced (from 0.65 to 0.89).