ABSTRACT. Current assay evaluates the internal quality of eggs of Hy-Line W-36 hens, according to storage time, temperature and packaging. Two equal experiments, starting one day apart, were conducted with 140 eggs each. The two experiments were divided into two phases, from 1 to 9 days and from 9 to 21 days, in a randomized block design. In the 1 st phase, the treatments were arranged in a factorial 2 x 3+1, packaging (with or without), time (3, 6 and 9 days), with control on the 1 st day. In the 2 nd phase, treatments were arranged in a factorial design 2 x 2 + 1, packaging (with or without), cooling (with or without), and control on the 9 th day. Egg weight, albumen, yolk and shell percentage, yolk index and Haugh unit were evaluated. The internal quality was reduced (p < 0.05) during storage and the internal quality of eggs kept at room temperature decreased (p < 0.05), whereas eggs stored under refrigeration showed the same quality (p > 0.05) on the 9 th and 21 st days.Packaging assured better quality (p < 0.05), but not similar to the quality of refrigerated eggs. Results showed that the internal quality of the eggs was worse when there was no refrigeration during storage time and that packages provided better internal quality, although not as effective as cooling.Keywords: storage of eggs, type of packaging, Haugh unit.Qualidade interna de ovos de poedeiras comerciais em função do tempo, temperatura e embalagem de armazenamento RESUMO. Objetivou-se avaliar a qualidade interna de ovos de poedeiras comerciais da linhagem Hy-Line W-36 ® , em função da temperatura, tempo e embalagem. Foram conduzidos dois experimentos, que iniciaram com um dia de diferença, cada um com 140 ovos. Cada experimento foi dividido em duas fases, sendo de um a nove dias e de nove a 21 dias. O delineamento foi em blocos casualisados. Na primeira fase, os tratamentos foram arranjados em fatorial 2 x 3 + 1, embalagem (com ou sem), tempo (3, 6 e 9 dias), e um controle no primeiro dia. Na segunda fase, o arranjo foi 2 x 2+1, embalagem (com ou sem), refrigeração (com ou sem), e um controle no nono dia. Avaliou-se o peso do ovo, percentagem de albúmen, gema e casca, índice gema e unidade Haugh. A qualidade interna reduziu (p < 0,05) durante o armazenamento, e os ovos mantidos no ambiente apresentaram redução (p < 0,05) na qualidade interna, enquanto que os ovos sob a refrigeração apresentaram a mesma (p > 0,05) qualidade no nono e no 21º dia. A embalagem melhorou (p < 0,05) a qualidade, no entanto, não com a mesma eficiência que a refrigeração. Conclui-se que a qualidade dos ovos piora com o armazenamento se não houver refrigeração e a utilização de embalagem gera melhor qualidade interna, no entanto, não é tão eficaz quanto à refrigeração.Palavras-chave: armazenamento de ovos, tipo de embalagem, unidade Haugh.

Background and Aim: Broiler meat is susceptible to lipid oxidation due to its high content of unsaturated fatty acids, especially when stored for a long time. Concerning with that problem, we can add natural compounds to the animal feed, as the plant essential oils, which have antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antifungal activities. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity, fatty acid profile, and chemical composition of the meat of broilers fed with diets containing different essential oil, including lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) and pedestrian tea (Lippia aff. rotundifolia). Materials and Methods: The experimental design used was a 4×4 factorial scheme (storage time×diets), and each treatment was repeated thrice. The treatments were applied as negative control (without antimicrobial); positive control (ration supplemented with 10 ppm of enramycin and 42 ppm of salinomycin), lemongrass (ration with 120 mg of essential oil of lemongrass for each kilogram of live weight of the animals), and pedestrian tea (ration with 120 mg of essential oil of pedestrian tea for each kilogram of live weight of the animals). Storage was performed after slaughter and evaluated monthly for 4 months. Results: The inclusion of lemongrass oil and pedestrian tea in the broiler diet did not change the ether extract content of the meat sample obtained from thigh and drumstick. The storage time promotes an increase in the moisture loss of the meat from the 2nd month in all treatments. There was an interaction between the additive and storage time for moisture loss. In the 2nd month of storage, the meat from broilers fed the antibiotic-containing feed had a lower moisture loss than those from broilers in the other treatment groups. The fatty acid profile did not differ statistically between the different treatment groups. The inclusion of additives in the food dropped the lipid oxidation at the 2nd month of storage. From the 3rd month, however, only the essential oils showed antioxidant effect. Conclusion: Antioxidant activity was positive for treatments that included essential oils. The lemongrass oil and pedestrian tea can be used as antioxidant additives in broiler diets to improve the oxidative stability of thigh-drumstick meat during storage. The results of the study suggest a good prospective for further research with profitability of usage essentials oils examined, for their economical application as feed components in broiler nutrition.

The dietary inclusion of feed additives to improve the carcass characteristics of the final product is of great importance for the pork production chain. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of the association of ractopamine (RAC) and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on the performance traits of finishing pigs during the last 26 days prior to slaughter. In total, 810 commercial hybrid barrows were used. Animals were distributed among treatments according to a randomised block design in a 3 × 3 factorial arrangement, with three RAC levels (0, 5 or 10 ppm) and three CLA levels (0, 0.3 or 0.6%). Pigs fed the diet with 5 ppm RAC had higher average daily feed intake (ADFI) (2.83 kg; P < 0.05) when compared with those fed 10 ppm RAC and the control diet (2.75 and 2.74 kg, respectively). Lower ADFI values (P < 0.01) were observed with the diets containing CLA compared with the control diet with no CLA (2.73 and 2.75 v. 2.85 kg/day, respectively). The average daily weight gain of pigs fed 5 and 10 ppm RAC was +148 and +173 g/dayhigher (P < 0.001), respectively, than those fed the control diet. Dietary RAC levels influenced (P < 0.001) feed conversion ratio (FCR), which was reduced as RAC levels increased, with the pigs fed 10, 5 and 0 ppm RAC presenting FCR values of 2.57, 2.71 and 3.05, respectively. FCR also improved (P < 0.05) with the inclusion of 0.6% CLA relative to the control diet (2.70 v. 2.84, respectively). There was a significant interaction between CLA × RAC levels (P < 0.01) for final BW, loin eye area (LEA) (P < 0.05) and backfat thickness (BT) (P < 0.05). The treatments containing 10 ppm RAC + 0.6% or 0.3% CLA increased LEA and reduced BT. In conclusion, the level of 10 ppm inclusion of RAC increased the overall performance parameters of pigs and therefore improved production efficiency. The combined use of RAC and CLA promoted a lower feed conversion ratio as well as better quantitative carcass traits, as demonstrated by the higher LEA and lower BT. The dietary inclusion of CLA at 0.3% improved feed efficiency, however, without affecting LEA or BT yields.

Ingestion of mycotoxins can result in many problems, including decreased growth rates and immune suppression. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of the supplementation of a mycotoxin deactivator composed by adsorbent clay minerals, inactivated fermentation extracts of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, blend of antioxidants, organic acids and botanicals in diets containing added mycotoxins for nursery pigs on their performance and antioxidant status. Ninety pigs weaned with 24 days of age (7.12 ± 0.68 kg of BW) were used. Pigs were housed in pens of 3 animals each according to body weight, litter origin and sex. The dietary treatments consisted of feeding the pigs with: a standard control diet as negative control (NC; mycotoxin levels at accepted regulatory Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture standards Deoxynivalenol (DON): &lt;100 ug/ kg; Zearalenone (ZEA): &lt;20 ug/ kg Fumonisins (FB): &lt;1 mg/ kg); the standard diet added with mycotoxins to reach a low contamination level considered as positive low (PCL-; DON: 900 ug/ kg; ZEA: 100 ug/ kg; FB: 5,000 ug/ kg) without deactivator; a positive low added the deactivator at an inclusion rate of 1 kg/ ton (PCL+); the standard diet added with mycotoxins to reach a high contamination level considered as positive high (PCH-; DON: 4,500 ug/ kg; ZEA: 500 ug/ kg; FB: 18,000 ug/ kg) without the deactivator; and a positive high added the deactivator at an inclusion rate of 5 kg/ ton (PCH+). Pigs were individually weighed at the beginning and at the end of each phase and feed intake recorded based on daily pen intake during the experiment. On d 7, 19, 34 and 43 post-weaning blood samples were drawn for antioxidant analyses. Antioxidant enzymes (glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and total superoxide dismutase (TSOD)), vitamins (Vit A, E, and C), and malondialdehyde (MDA)) were evaluated in erythrocyte and plasma samples. Pigs challenged with mycotoxins presented lower performance traits, decrease in the efficiency of central antioxidant systems (↓GPx, ↓TSOD, ↓Vit A, ↓Vit E and ↓Vit C) and a higher oxidative damage to lipids (↑MDA) when compared to the control and deactivator associated treatments. Our findings showed that the use of a mycotoxin deactivator can mitigate the negative impacts on performance and oxidative stress when animals are subjected to diets contaminated by different levels of mycotoxins.

The improvement of sweet potato is a costly job due to the large number of characteristics to be analyzed for the selection of the best genotypes, making it necessary to adopt new technologies, such as the use of images, associated with the phenotyping process. The objective of this research was to develop a methodology for the phenotyping of the root production aiming genetic improvement of half-sib sweet potato progenies through computational analysis of images and to compare its performance to the traditional methodology of evaluation. Sixteen half-sib sweet potato families in a randomized block design with 4 replications were evaluated. At plant level, the weight per root and the total number of roots were evaluated. The images were acquired in a “studio” made of mdf with a digital camera model Canon PowerShotSX400 IS, under artificial lighting. The evaluations were carried out using the R software, where a second-degree polynomial regression model was fitted to predict the root weight (in grams) and the genetic values and expected gains were obtained. It was possible to predict the root weight at plant and plot level, obtaining high coefficients of determination between the predicted and observed weight. Computer vision allowed the prediction of root weight, maintaining the genotype ranking and consequently the similarity between the expected gains with the selection. Thus, the use of images is an efficient tool for sweet potato genetic improvement programs, assisting in the crop phenotyping process.