Effects of feeding diets supplemented with fungus myceliated grains on some production, health and oxidation traits of dairy ewes.

Abstract

The beneficial properties of mushrooms bioactive compounds indicate their potential use as performance enhancing natural additive for livestock animals. This paper reports the preliminary results of a research on the effects of diets supplemented with fungus myceliated grains (FMG) to lactating ewes in terms of intestinal parasites control, milk production and cheese oxidative stability. During 8 weeks, 21 ewes were divided into 3 groups fed with hay ad libitum and 1.3 kg/day per head of one of 3 concentrates with 0, 10 or 20% of FMG. In front of analogous DM and nutrients intake, the ewes fed FMG at higher levels showed a reduction of intestinal parasite infection, a tendency to improve milk yield and a higher milk casein content. The increase of FMG in the diet was responsible of production of cheeses with a lower secondary lipid oxidation and a higher antioxidant capacity, suggesting a major oxidative stability of cheese fat and an enrichment of cheese in antioxidant compounds induced by the FMG. These preliminary results appear to be promising, and further investigations are recommended.