It is common practice in the dairy industry to separate the calf from the cow immediately after parturition, and in most parts of the world calves are housed individually during the milk-feeding ...period. Early and abrupt separation has major implications for the calf's physical and psychological development. In this Research Reflection short review we present and discuss the main housing systems and management practices regarding early weaning in today's dairy industry. Main benefits and disadvantages are critically addressed, and possible future research suggested. Furthermore, major policy issues related to consumers, scientific recommendations and economic performance of farms have been identified, as well as future drivers for more viable housing solutions for neonatal calves. This review serves as an introduction and preamble to the second section of this Special Issue, which is dedicated to cow-calf contact management systems.
Fermented sausages have been manufactured traditionally in the Mediterranean basin. Istrian sausages are one of the many regionally specific products distinguished by the specific traditional recipes ...and consequentially exceptional sensory characteristics. The aim of this study was to evaluate sensory, physico-chemical and microbiological changes occurring during production and ripening of Istrian sausages made at traditional households, and to compare the results obtained with the identical product produced in industrial conditions. Additional goal was to characterise the autochthonous lactic acid bacteria populations and to obtain the candidate starter strains. Production stages and product ripening parameters could be strictly defined in controlled industrial conditions of the production process, and the results of this study can serve to standardise the production of traditional Istrian sausages. The results from sensory and physico-chemical examination do not show differences in relation to sausages of a similar type investigated in other papers. Lactic acid bacteria were favoured during fermentation at rising salt concentrations, consisting mostly of
Lactobacillus
strains followed with the abundance of coagulase-negative cocci. Further, we targeted the autochthonous lactic LAB population to select the candidate starter strains for controlled sausage fermentation. Fifty Gram-positive strains with catalase-negative phenotype, rod-shape or cocci morphology, effective acidification kinetics and production of lactic acid identified by sequence analysis of 16S rRNA were considered LAB. The selected LAB strains were able to grow in a range of pH values and high salt concentration important for their metabolic activity during sausage fermentation. According to our results,
Lactobacillus sakei
, which is a prevalent strain during fermentation of various types of fermented sausages, was frequently detected.
Lactobacillus plantarum
and
Lactobacillus curvatus
were also detected in abundance, implying their possible competitiveness among the complex microbial population. Isolated autochthonous strains
L. curvatus
S30,
L. sakei
S32 and
L. plantarum
S50 produced high lactic acid concentrations, tolerated NaCl concentrations present during sausage fermentation, survived at high concentrations of hydrogen ions and inhibited six pathogens associated with contamination of meat products in a strain-specific manner.
•Analytical approaches to authentication of food of animal origin.•Determination of specific food ingredients.•Determination of geographical origin.•Substitution of ingredients.
Since adulteration ...can have serious consequences on human health, it affects market growth by destroying consumer confidence. Therefore, authentication of food is important for food processors, retailers and consumers, but also for regulatory authorities. However, a complex nature of food and an increase in types of adulterants make their detection difficult, so that food authentication often poses a challenge. This review focuses on analytical approaches to authentication of food of animal origin, with an emphasis put on determination of specific ingredients, geographical origin and adulteration by virtue of substitution. This review highlights a current overview of the application of target approaches in cases when the compound of interest is known and non-target approaches for screening issues. Papers cited herein mainly concern milk, cheese, meat and honey. Moreover, advantages, disadvantages as well as challenges regarding the use of both approaches in official food control but also in food industry are investigated.
This survey was the first one investigating opinions of veterinary students in Croatia towards companion animals and their welfare, with special reference to dogs and cats as the most popular ...companion animals in the European Union. The study included students of all six years of the integrated undergraduate and graduate veterinary medicine study programme in Croatia. First-year students were surveyed twice, before and after having attended the course on animal welfare. Student opinions were assessed on the basis of their mean responses to five-point Likert scale questions and frequency of responses to Yes/No/I do not know questions and ratio scale questions. Study results revealed students to have strongly positive opinions towards companion animals and their welfare. The majority of student statements did not differ significantly between the first and sixth study years or before and after having attended the animal welfare course in the first study year, mostly yielding a straight, non-fluctuating line. Students were not sure whether welfare of companion dogs and cats was compromised. Study results pointed to reliable and reasonable opinions of veterinary medicine students in Croatia towards companion animals and their welfare, as well as to the welfare issues these species may be facing nowadays.
The aim of the research was to qualitatively determine volatile aroma compounds in the M. longissimus dorsi of lambs. The research included a total of 30 lamb carcasses divided into three groups. The ...animals were fed with a regular commercial feed mixture, which was supplemented with chopped dried or fresh common mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) in various proportions. Volatile compounds were determined using headspace solid-phase microextraction, coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The identified compounds are classified into the following chemical groups: aldehydes, esters, alcohols, amino acids, peptides, lactones, ketones, fatty acids, complex organic compounds, ethers and furans. Further research is needed to determine whether the differences between the groups in the volatile compounds identified affect the acceptability of lamb meat to consumers. Key words: lamb meat; dry supplement; Agaricus bisporus; volatile aroma compounds Cilj ovog istrazivanja bio je utvrditi hlapljive aromaticne spojeve u M. longissimus dorsi janjadi hranjene komercijalnom krmnom smjesom, kojoj je dodavan suhi ili nasjeckani svjezi pripravak plemenite pecurke (Agaricus bisporus) u razlicitim omjerima. Istrazivanjem je obuhvaceno ukupno 30 klaonicki obradenih tupova janjadi podijeljeno u tri skupine. Hlapljivi spojevi odredeni su koristenjem mikroekstrakcije u cvrstoj fazi u kombinaciji s plinskom kromatografjom/masenom spektrometrijom. Identifcirani spojevi mogu se razvrstati u sljedece kemijske skupine: aldehidi, esteri, alkoholi, aminokiseline, peptidi, laktoni, ketoni, masne kiseline, slozeni organski spojevi, eteri i furani. Potrebna su daljnja istrazivanja kako bi se utvrdilo utjecu li razlike u identifciranim hlapljivim spojevima izmedu skupina na prihvatljivost janjeceg mesa za potrosace Kljucne rijeci: janjece meso; pripravak plemenite pecurke Agaricus bisporus; hlapljivi spojevi arome
Microbiological Quality of Feed Zadravec, Manuela; Mikuš, Tomislav; Pradervand, Nicolas ...
The open agriculture journal,
04/2023, Letnik:
17, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Background:
In most countries, the microbiological quality of complete feed mixtures, grains, silages and hay is sadly a much-underrated aspect of official feed control. Monitoring the ...microbiological quality of feeds downgrades any of the poor quality feeds and stimulates feed mills to produce better quality feeds, therefore, enforcing the prominence of high-quality feeds on the market.
Objectives:
To
c
ollect the results of the microbiological feed quality, done over a period of one year, all of which originate from Croatia, Slovenia, and Switzerland. Furthermore, identify the presence of feedingstuffs with poor microbiological quality in some parts of the European market and therefore have the most impact on animal health and welfare.
Methods:
Feed quality was assessed through a single Verband deutscher landwirtschaftlicher Untersuchungs - und Forschungsanstalten
(
VDLUFA) method based on a systematic approach, which categorizes feed into categories from 1 to 4 according to bacteria, moulds, and yeasts content, and their ecology and hazard significance.
Results:
Although the most analyzed samples of feed belong to the most desirable quality level 1, it should be emphasized that almost all feed types can be found samples of quality level 4, unacceptable for feed.
Conclusion:
The obtained results give an overview of the advantages of monitoring the microbiological quality of feeds for governmental authorities, producers, and consumers alike and potentially provide more information concerning the new aspects of the risk assessment of certain types of feeds or their raw materials.
This study aimed to identify seasonal and age related variability in triglycerides (TRI), paraoxonase (PON), stimulated PON (PON I) and cholesterol (CHOL, HDL, LDL) in extensively reared Lička ...pramenka sheep. The study was conducted 30 randomly chosen non-gravid Lička pramenka sheep on an extensive farm, grouped into three age groups in the Karlovac County, Croatia. Blood was collected by venepuncture of the jugular vein, twice in one year - the first sampling in spring (April) and the second in autumn (October). The results showed that age had no significant effect on any of the investigated indicators, while seasonality significantly affected five out of the six parameters examined. Significantly higher levels of serum lipid components in autumn can be explained by the influence of the traditional way of rearing and feeding Lička pramenka sheep. Furthermore, the results of PON I in all three age groups showed that the sheep are well adapted to the environment and to the rearing system. Future research should be carried out on higher number of farms, and should include more sheep in order to determine objective benchmarks for serum lipids and the enzymes connected to those lipids.