Twenty lactating crossbred cows yielding 10 to 15 litres of milk daily during mid lactation were selected and divided into four groups of five animals to assess the effect of feeding calcium soaps of palm oil fatty acids (bypass fat) on milk yield, milk composition and nutrient utilization in lactating crossbred cows. The animals in groups 1 (control), 2, 3 and 4 were fed concentrate mixture containing 0 (no bypass fat), 2, 4 and 6% bypass fat, respectively. The average daily dry matter consumption in the various groups ranged from 13.1 to 13.6 kg and showed no significant difference among treatment groups. There was no significant difference among different groups in digestibility of DM, OM, CP and CF, however, ether extract digestibility in cows of groups 2 and 4 was significantly (p<0.05) higher than the control group. The average milk yields of the cows in group 3 (4% bypass fat) showed a significantly (p<0.05) higher value than cows of groups 1 and 2. Similarly, a significant (p<0.05) increase in fat yield, 4% FCM yield and SNF yield was observed for the cows in group 3 (4% bypass fat). The milk composition in terms of total solids, fat, lactose, protein, solids-not-fat and ash percentage showed a varying response and bypass fat feeding did not have any effect on milk composition of cows in different groups. The gross and net energetic efficiency of milk production ranged from 23.6 to 27.5% and 37.1 to 44.4%, respectively, and showed no significant difference among different treatment groups. The gross and net efficiency of nitrogen utilization for milk production ranged from 24.0 to 28.7% and 37.2 to 43.5%, respectively, and no significant difference was noted among different treatment groups. The supplementation with calcium salts of palm oil fatty acid reduced the proportion of caproic, caprylic and capric acids and significantly (p<0.01) increased the concentration of palmitic, oleic, stearic, linoleic and linolenic acids in milk fat with increase in level of bypass fat supplementation. It was concluded that incorporation of calcium salts of palm oil fatty acids at a 4% level in the concentrate mixture of lactating crossbred cows improved the milk production and milk quality in terms of polyunsaturated fatty acids without affecting the digestibility of nutrients.

An experiment was conducted on early lactating dairy cows to study the effect of rumen protected choline (RPC) and methionine (RPM) on milk yield and composition. Fifteen crossbred dairy cows in early lactation (within 10 days of calving) were selected and randomly allotted to any one of the following three dietary treatments, T1 (Control)- with compound feed mixture containing CP- 20% and TDN- 68% , T2- T1+20g RPM and 20g RPC, T3- with compound fed mixture containing CP- 17%, TDN- 68% + 20g RPM and 20g RPC. All the experimental animals were fed as per ICAR feeding standards (ICAR, 2013). Results revealed no significant difference (p>0.05) in milk yield and 4 per cent fat corrected milk (FCM) yield between the three treatment groups. Among the milk constituents, animals in T3 had significantly higher milk fat (p<0.05), SNF (p<0.05), protein (p<0.05) and total solids (p<0.01) compared to those in T1 and T2. Milk urea nitrogen levels did not differ significantly among the three treatments and were within the normal range. The study showed that milk composition could be effectively improved by supplementing feed with rumen protected forms of choline and methionine in combination at lower dietary protein level without any reduction in milk yield.

Composite flour technology involves the process of mixing cereals and legumes to facilitate the usage of locally available raw materials to produce high-quality food products economically. The present investigation evaluated the growth responses of a composite flour blend formulated using selected cereals, pulses and oil seed (a total of nine grains) were evaluated in two-month-old growing Wistar rats. The feeding trial was conducted for four weeks after an acclimatization period of five days. Daily feed intake and weekly body weight were recorded and parameters such as weight gain, feed conversion efficiency and digestibility of protein were estimated. A significantly higher average final live weight, weekly weight gain and better feed conversion efficiency (p<0.05) were observed in the treatment group. The observed values of digestibility of protein were 84.74 ± 0.85 % and 65.16 ± 0.89 % respectively for the treatment and control diets. Data were analyzed statistically using Analysis of Variance in SPSS 24 software. The investigation revealed that the formulated composite flour premix promotes growth with good protein digestibility in rats and could be used for nutraceutical fortifications to support human life and good health.

The experiment was conducted to compare the effect of chitosan and L-carnitine supplementation on carcass characteristics of broiler chicken. A total of 150, day-old Vencobb 430Y broiler chicks were randomly selected and divided into three treatments with five replicates of ten birds each. The dietary treatment groups were as follows: T1 -standard broiler ration (SBR) formulated as per BIS (2007); T2–SBR supplemented with chitosan at 30 g/kg diet; T3–SBR supplemented with L-carnitine at 0.05 g/kg diet. The results indicated that the mean abdominal fat pad per cent of broilers in chitosan supplemented group (T2) was significantly (p<0.01) lower than L-carnitine supplemented group (T3) and both were statistically lower than the control group. However, there was no significant difference in other carcass characteristics among treatment groups except the heart yield percentage. The mean heart yield per cent of broilers showed a significantly (p<0.05) lower value in broilers fed with chitosan as compared to the other treatment groups. The results obtained from the study indicated that supplementation of chitosan and L-carnitine caused a significant reduction in the abdominal fat pad per cent without any adverse effects on growth performance as well as carcass characteristics of broiler chicken.

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