The Effect of increasing levels of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) seed on the performance, ruminal fermentation, antioxidant status and milk fatty acid profile of Saanen dairy goats

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the effect of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) seed (DPS) on the performance, ruminal fermentation, antioxidant status and milk fatty acid (FA) profile of dairy goats. Eight multiparous Saanen dairy goats, averaging 97 ± 7 days in milk (DIM) and 2150 ± 130 g of milk production, were used in a 4 × 4 replicated Latin square design. Experimental diets contained 0% (control), 6% (DPS6), 12% (DPS12) and 18% (DPS18) of DPS. Dry matter intake (DMI), milk production, and the composition and digestibility of the dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and crude protein (CP) were not affected by the diets. Adding DPS to the diet increased linearly total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in milk and blood (p < 0.05). No significant difference was found in the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in milk and blood. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities in the blood, ruminal pH, NH -N, ruminal total volatile fatty acid (VFA), acetate, butyrate, isovalerate and valeric acid concentration had no significant effect among the diets. The propionate acid concentration decreased linearly as DPS was added to the diet, and DPS18 had minimum propionate acid concentration (p < 0.05). The inclusion of DPS18 to diets increased linearly the proportion of C18:0 (compared to control) as well as cis-18:1, trans-18:1 (compared to control and DPS6) and decreased C14:1 (compared to control) in milk fat (p < 0.05). The concentration of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in DPS18 was higher than other diets (p = 0.04). The results of this study implied that replacing DPS with a part of dairy goats' ration had no negative effects on the performance of the animals and could also improve the antioxidant activity and increase the concentration of CLA in their milk.

Milk compositional changes of Laoshan goat milk from partum up to 261 days postpartum

“…The protein content during this period consists of greater amounts of casein and globulin (Tsioulpas, Grandison, & Lewis, 2007). The lowest content of dry matter from Laoshan dairy goat milk was of 11.17%, and this result is consistent with the previous study that the dry matter of Saanen goat was 11.4% (Sharifi, Bashtani, Naserian, & Farhangfar, 2017). In this study, the protein contents of Laoshan goat milk were far higher than those in cattle milk (3%).…”

Recent research of feeding practices and the nutrition of lactating dairy goats

“…But, because plasma malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl levels were increased as well, it could not be discerned if increased antioxidant capacity resulted from antioxidants provided by oils or was caused by increased oxidative stress. This is somewhat different from findings of Sharifi et al (2017) with increasing dietary level of date seeds overviewed earlier, with increased antioxidant capacity and no differences in indicators of oxidative stress. Such findings suggest need for studies addressing these potential counteracting human health effects of supplementing lactating dairy goat diets with polyunsaturated FA.…”

“…Lastly, though date pits do contain PSM such as tannins, there were no clear adverse effects of date pit inclusion or level in the diet indicated by blood constituent levels. Sharifi et al (2017) noted somewhat more favourable results with Saanen goats at 97 DIM consuming 45% forage diets with 0%, 6%, 12%, or 18% date seeds substituted for wheat bran. Intake of DM was not affected by date seed level, but 4% fat-corrected milk yield tended to increase linearly with increasing date seed level from 1.59 to 1.79 kg/day.…”

Effect of dry medicinal plants (wormwood, chamomile, fumitory and mallow) on in vitro ruminal antioxidant capacity and fermentation patterns of sheep

“…Similarly, diet containing 18% of date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera L.) increased TAC of milk and blood in dairy goats (Sharifi, Bashtani, Naserian, & Farhangfar, 2015). The linearly increase in TAC was within increasing levels of date palm seed (Sharifi, Bashtani, Naserian, & Farhangfar, 2017). P. dactylifera is rich especially on phenolic acids isoflavons, lignans, flavonoids, tannins and sterols (Sharifi et al, 2015).…”