Nutritive value and anthelmintic effect of sainfoin pellets fed to experimentally infected growing rabbits

Effect of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) seed-based diet on rats: A comprehensive evaluation of hemogram, biochemistry, and histopathology

Sainfoin species (Onobrychis spp.) have been employed for centuries as an essential forage for ruminant animals, both for grazing and as hay. The seeds produced by sainfoin have also been investigated as an animal feed source and were indicated to be a particularly protein-rich supplement for monogastric animals. This study explores the effects of two sainfoin seed inclusion rates in rat diets compared to a control diet, focusing on blood biochemical parameters and a comprehensive histopathological evaluation of multiple organ systems. Thus, we provide a novel contribution to the body of evidence investigating sainfoin seeds as a protein supplement in monogastric animal diets. In this 21-day experiment, seven rats each were assigned to the control group, a 5% sainfoin seed group, and a 10% sainfoin seed group. The control group received standard feed and water; the second group received feed with 5% sainfoin seeds; and the third group received feed with 10% sainfoin seeds. At the experiment's end, necropsies and evaluations were conducted. Histopathological exams revealed normal organ structures in all 21 samples, regardless of the group. Blood analysis showed statistically significant decreases in creatine, ALT, P, Ca, and Mg levels in the sainfoin seed groups compared to the control group, with most values nearing reference levels, suggesting potential benefits. Notably, no adverse effects were observed when sainfoin seeds were included at 5% and 10% in the rat feed. These findings contribute to a growing body of research investigating the inclusion of sainfoin seeds in monogastric animal diets, which is a foundational component of assessing sainfoin's potential as a novel pulse crop for human consumption.

Use of dehydrated sainfoin in rabbit feeding. Effects of a moderate dietary incorporation on performance and health of does and growing rabbits under an optimal farming environment

The effects of a moderate incorporation of dehydrated sainfoin Perly cultivar (DS) in rabbit feeds on the performance and health of reproductive and growing rabbits were analysed over two consecutive reproductive cycles in a professional breeding environment. Two groups of 192 does and associated litters were fed isonutritive feeds containing either 0 or 13% dehydrated sainfoin (respectively C (control) vs. S (“sainfoin”) groups) in replacement mainly of dehydrated alfalfa. Growing rabbit feeds C and S included 0 and 15.6% safoin, respectively. Doe live weight, number of live rabbits at birth and stillborn rate were not affected by dietary DS incorporation. In cycle 1, fertility rate was 10% higher for the S-group, but was similar among the groups in the 2nd cycle (significant interaction). Incorporation of DS had no impact on kit growth before weaning, but improved the post-weaning growth rate by 6% (P<0.001) and the feed conversion ratio by 7%. Dietary DS incorporation had no effect on doe mortality, which was very low (<2%, P=0.07). Doe culling was half lower with sainfoin incorporation in cycle 1 (25% in group C vs. 12% in group S; P<0.05). In cycle 2, doe culling rate was low (3.2%) and similar among diets (significant interaction between diet and cycle effects). Pre-weaning mortality of kits was low and slightly higher for S-group (1.1 vs. 1.5%). Post-weaning mortality was also low and was reduced with sainfoin dietary incorporation (3.0 vs. 1.8%; P<0.001). A moderate incorporation of dehydrated sainfoin can be recommended for growing rabbits and for reproducing does feeds.

Antiparasitic Tannin-Rich Plants from the South of Europe for Grazing Livestock: A Review

Internal parasites are one of the main causes of health threats in livestock production, especially in extensive livestock farming. Despite the environmental toxic effects (loss of dung beetles, biodiversity, and other issues) and resistance phenomenon derived from their prolonged use, anti-parasitic chemical pharmaceuticals are frequently used, even in organic farming. Such a situation within the context of climate change requires urgent exploration of alternative compounds to solve these problems and apparent conflicts between organic farming objectives regarding the environment, public health, and animal health. This review is focused on some plants (Artemisia spp., Cichorium intybus L., Ericaceae family, Hedysarum coronarium L., Lotus spp., Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) that are well known for their antiparasitic effect, are voluntarily grazed and ingested, and can be spontaneously found or cultivated in southern Europe and other regions with a Mediterranean climate. The differences found between effectiveness, parasite species affected, in vitro/in vivo experiments, and active compounds are explored. A total of 87 papers where antiparasitic activity of those plants have been studied are included in this review; 75% studied the effect on ruminant parasites, where gastrointestinal nematodes were the parasite group most studied (70%), and these included natural (31%) and experimental (37%) infections.

Feed incorporation of dehydrated sainfoin: effects on health and performances of does and growing rabbits

The performance and health of does and growing rabbits were compared over three consecutive reproductive cycles for three groups of 20 nulliparous does and their litters (DS0, DS13, DS26) fed isonutritive feeds containing 0, 13 or 26% dehydrated sainfoin (DS, Perly cultivar). Feed intake, live weight and fertility of does were not affected by DS feed incorporation. The number of live kits at birth increased linearly with increasing DS incorporation (+1.5 from DS0 to DS26, P=0.042) and the stillborn rate tended to linearly decrease in groups fed DS (16.6 vs. 10.4%, P=0.086). Increasing the level of DS in feeds had no impact on the growth of the kits before weaning, but led to a linear reduction in the post-weaning growth rate (P<0.01, –2 for 26% DS), whereas the feed conversion ratio increased linearly with DS incorporation (P<0.01, 2.91 vs. 2.98, resp. for DS0 and DS26). No effect of DS feed incorporation was detectable on doe and kit mortality rates. Excretion of coccidia by both does and growing rabbits was not affected by DS incorporation. For 70 d old rabbits, the levels of immunoglobulins A and G and of white blood cells were not significantly different between groups and high levels of IgG (average: 8.1 mg/mL) were recorded, suggesting a coccidia infestation. Overall doe mortality remained under 5% and was not affected by the reproductive cycle (P=0.24). The stillborn rate decreased from 18 to 6%, (P<0.01) from cycle 1 to 2, and the number of live rabbits at birth increased from 8.0 to 10.7 (P<0.01). Kit mortality remained low before weaning (under 2.5%), and very low after weaning (<1%). Excretion of coccidia by does decreased from cycle 1 to cycle 3, whereas excretions by growing rabbits remained stable.

Comparative Metabolomic Analysis of Four Fabaceae and Relationship to In Vitro Nematicidal Activity against Xiphinema index

The grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV), responsible for fanleaf degeneration, is spread in vineyards by the soil nematode Xiphinema index. Nematicide molecules were used to limit the spread of the disease until they were banned due to negative environmental impacts. Therefore, there is a growing interest in alternative methods, including plant-derived products with antagonistic effects to X. index. In this work, we evaluated the nematicidal potential of the aerial parts and roots of four Fabaceae: sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia), birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), sweet clover (Melilotus albus), and red clover (Trifolium pratense), as well as that of sainfoin-based commercial pellets. For all tested plants, either aerial or root parts, or both of them, exhibited a nematicidal effect on X. index in vitro, pellets being as effective as freshly harvested plants. Comparative metabolomic analyses did not reveal molecules or molecule families specifically associated with antagonistic properties toward X. index, suggesting that the nematicidal effect is the result of a combination of different molecules rather than associated with a single compound. Finally, scanning electron microscope observations did not reveal the visible impact of O. viciifolia extract on X. index cuticle, suggesting that alteration of the cuticle may not be the primary cause of their nematicidal effect.

Use of oocytes selected by brilliant cresyl blue staining enhances rabbit cloned embryo development in vitro

Rabbits play an important role in people’s lives due to their high nutritional value and high-quality hair that can be used as raw material for textiles. Furthermore, rabbits are an important animal model for human disease, as genome-edited animals are particularly valuable for studying gene functions and pathogenesis. Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is an important technique for producing genome-edited animals and it has great value in saving endangered species and in clone stem cell therapy. However, the low efficiency of SCNT limits its application, with the selection of suitable rabbit oocytes being crucial to its success. In the present study, we collected oocytes from ovarian follicles and stained them with 26 μM brilliant cresyl blue (BCB). We then matured the oocytes in vitro and used them for SCNT. Comparison of the BCB-positive oocytes with BCB-negative oocytes and the control group showed that the BCB-positive group had a significantly higher maturation rate (81.4% vs. 48.9% and 65.3% for the negative and control groups, respectively), cleavage rate (86.6% vs. 67.9% and 77.9%), blastocyst rate (30.5% vs. 12.8% and 19.6%), total number of blastocysts (90±7.5 vs. 65.3±6.3 and 67.5±5.7), and inner cell mass (ICM)/ trophectoderm (TE) index (42.3±4.2 vs. 30.2±2.1 and 33.9±5.1) (P<0.05). The BCB-positive group had a significantly lower apoptosis index (2.1±0.6 vs. 8.2±0.9 and 6.7±1.1 for the negative and control groups, respectively) (P<0.05). These findings demonstrate that BCB-positive oocytes have a higher maturation ability and developmental competence in vitro, indicating that BCB staining is a reliable method for selecting oocytes to enhance the efficiency of SCNT.

An in vitro approach to evaluate the nutraceutical value of plant foliage against Haemonchus contortus

Nutraceutical plants provide nutrients for the animal as well as secondary compounds that can affect the biology and survival of gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN). Current screening of nutraceutical plants is based on in vitro evidence of anthelmintic (AH) activity against different life stages of GIN, but nutritional information is omitted or scarce. This study proposes an integral in vitro screening protocol to identify the nutraceutical value of the foliage from plant species consumed by small ruminants, using Haemonchus contortus as a biological model. The leaves from Acacia collinsii, A. pennatula, Bunchosia swartziana, Gymnopodium floribundum, Havardia albicans, Leucaena leucocephala, Lysiloma latisiliquum, Mimosa bahamensis, Piscidia piscipula, and Senegalia gaumeri were evaluated for their chemical composition and in vitro digestibility. Acetone:water extracts (70:30) from leaves of each plant were evaluated using the egg hatch assay and larval exsheathment inhibition assay. Respective effective concentrations 50% (EC₅₀) were determined for each assay. The ten plant species showed good nutritional value for ruminants, including crude protein (> 10%), metabolizable energy (> 2.9 MJ/kg DM), and varied CT content (from 1.0 to 37.6%). The best AH activity against H. contortus eggs (EC₅₀ = 401.8 μg/mL) and L₃ (EC₅₀ = 83.1 μg/mL) was observed for S. gaumeri extract. Although all the plant species showed in vitro nutraceutical potential, the leaves of S. gaumeri had the best values. The proposed in vitro protocol showed to be useful for the integral assessment of the nutraceutical potential of different plant species as it included the nutritional value and the AH activity against eggs and L₃ in the selected plant species.

Coccidiostatic effects of tannin-rich diets in rabbit production

The potential anti-eimerial effect of tannin containing resources such as sainfoin and carob in rabbits was tested on does at pre-weaning and to growing rabbits in their feed. The trial began at parturition (D0), when 24 does and their litters were assigned into three groups. They were fed either with a control (Group CO), a carob (containing 10% carob pods meal) (Group CP) or a sainfoin diet (containing 34% dehydrated sainfoin pellets) (Group SA). All diets were made isoproteic and isoenergetic and also balanced for crude fibre but differed by their tannin content. Weaning occurred at D37, and growing rabbits remained in the same cage until D51. Then, they were transferred to fattening cages until the end of the trial (D104) and slaughtering. Weight gain of young rabbits among the three groups (mean = 31.2 g/day) did not differ statistically. The mortality rates were 10% (SA), 15% (CP) and 20% (CO), respectively, but the differences were not statistically significant. Post-weaning economical feed conversion ratio (FCR) was reduced between rabbits of group SA compared to CO and CP groups. Faecal oocyst count (FOC) in group SA was 60% lower than in CO and CP groups. Areas under the curve (AUCs) calculated between sampling days and FOC, after transfer to fattening cages, was 62% lower in group SA than in CO and CP groups. The main Eimeria species identified (from D59 to D83) was Eimeria magna (53% of oocysts). AUCs for E. magna did not differ according to diet. In conclusion, the diet containing sainfoin reduced oocyst excretion of Eimeria spp. by 60%, and improved the economical FCR.