Animal Design Through Functional Dietary Diversity for Future Productive Landscapes

Abstract

Pastoral livestock production systems are facing considerable societal pressure to reduce environmental impact, enhance animal welfare, and promote product integrity, while maintaining or increasing system profitability. Design theory is the conscious tailoring of a system for a specific or set of purposes. Then, animals—as biological systems nested in grazing environments—can be designed in order to achieve multi-faceted goals. We argue that phytochemical rich diets through dietary taxonomical diversity can be used as a design tool for both current animal product integrity and to develop future multipurpose animals. Through conscious choice, animals offered a diverse array of plants tailor a diet, which better meets their individual requirements for nutrients, pharmaceuticals, and prophylactics. Phytochemical rich diets with diverse arrangements of plant secondary compounds also reduce environmental impacts of grazing animals by manipulating the use of C and N, thereby reducing methane production and excretion of N. Subsequently functional dietary diversity (FDD), as opposed to dietary monotony, offers better nourishment, health benefits and hedonic value (positive reward increasing “liking” of feed), as well as the opportunity for individualism; and thereby eudaimonic well-being. Moreover, phytochemical rich diets with diverse arrangements of plant secondary compounds may translate in animal products with similar richness, enhancing consumer human health and well-being. Functional dietary diversity also allows us to design future animals. Dietary exposure begins in utero, continues through mothers' milk, and carries on in early-life experiences, influencing dietary preferences later in life. More specifically, in utero exposure to specific flavors cause epigenetic changes that alter morphological and physiological mechanisms that influence future “wanting,” “liking” and learning of particular foods and foodscapes. In this context, we argue that in utero and early life exposure to designed flavors of future multifunctional foodscapes allow us to graze future ruminants with enhanced multiple ecosystem services. Collectively, the strategic use of FDD allows us to “create” animals and their products for immediate and future food, health, and wealth. Finally, implementing design theory provides a link between our thoughtscape (i.e., the use of FDD as design) to future landscapes, which provides a beneficial foodscape to the animals, an subsequently to us.

Dietary and Animal Strategies to Reduce the Environmental Impact of Pastoral Dairy Systems Result in Altered Nutraceutical Profiles in Milk

“…Plants, such as PL, which has been investigated due to its different primary chemistry compared to RG as a mitigation tool to reduce environmental impact has been documented to have an array of secondary bioactive compounds [ 28 , 29 ], that have the potential to (1) reduce oxidative and physiological stress in grazing ruminants [ 30 , 31 , 32 ], (2) increase animal performance and feed conversion efficiency, thereby reducing environmental impact [ 33 , 34 ], and (3) increase the presence of bioactive compounds with potential nutraceutical, therapeutical, and prophylactic properties in meat and milk [ 33 , 35 ].…”

Creating a Design Framework to Diagnose and Enhance Grassland Health under Pastoral Livestock Production Systems

“…Plant secondary compounds may positively affect ruminant grazing animal and human health, with a vast range of benefits, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacity [ 118 , 119 ], anthelmintics, antibacterial, antifungal, anticancer and antiviral properties [ 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 ]. Plant secondary compounds can also positively affect livestock animal products by the absorption and incorporation of these products into the animal gastrointestinal tract, thus providing some organoleptic compounds into milk or meat and enhancing their quality [ 31 ]. Diets with tannins for example, reduce the biosynthesis of skatole and its accumulation in meat and milk, which improve their flavour [ 125 ].…”

“…The quality of ruminant products (e.g., milk and meat) is influenced by the taxonomical and biochemical composition of the swards ruminants are grazing [ 31 , 196 ]. This is due to the secondary compounds of plants such as phenolics, terpenes, and fatty acids that enhance the flavour and biochemical characteristics of meat and milk and can offer medicinal properties to animals and humans [ 158 ], such as anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity and anti-atherogenic properties [ 197 , 198 , 199 , 200 , 201 , 202 ].…”

“…This is due to the secondary compounds of plants such as phenolics, terpenes, and fatty acids that enhance the flavour and biochemical characteristics of meat and milk and can offer medicinal properties to animals and humans [ 158 ], such as anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity and anti-atherogenic properties [ 197 , 198 , 199 , 200 , 201 , 202 ]. Those benefits are enhanced in highly nutritive and diverse pastures [ 31 , 89 , 196 ]. When comparing a semi-natural pasture composed of purple moor-grass Molinia caerulea with improved pasture composed of ryegrass Lolium perenne and clover Trifolium repens , meat quality was enhanced with lower proportions of saturated fatty acids and higher proportions of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids such as C18:2n−6 and C18:2n−3 [ 203 ].…”

“…For example, pasture swards can be designed to provide ruminants a biochemically rich forage to enhance individuals and environmental performance [ 29 , 30 ]. Likewise, ruminants can be designed to produce healthy and high-quality products with less environmental impact and better nutrient use efficiency [ 31 ]. The design theory described by Walls et al (1992 [ 28 ]) encompasses two features ( Figure 1 ).…”