Use of Awamori-pressed Lees and Tofu Lees as Feed Ingredients for Growing Male Goats

Effects of soybean curd residue and rice bran on lamb performance, health, and meat quality

Recycling food by-products as animal feed could decrease livestock production costs. We investigated how replacing conventional corn and wheat bran feed (control) with rice bran and soybean curd residue (RBSR) would influence lamb performance and meat quality. Eleven lambs were divided into the control and the RBSR-fed groups. The amount of feed consumed by the lambs, as well as their body weight, nutrient properties (total protein, non-esterified fatty acid, total cholesterol, glucose concentrations) in blood samples, and fecal condition were evaluated. Meat quality (water holding capacity, cooking loss, fat content, and shear force) of their carcasses were also evaluated. Results shows daily body weight gain per lamb in the RBSR-fed group was approximately 2.2-fold than that in the control group. The mean total blood protein and glucose concentrations exhibited increasing trends after feeding with RBSR. In addition, the shear force of the meat was significantly lower and crude fat content was significantly higher in RBSR-fed lambs than in lamb fed the control feed. The study concluded that, RBSR could replace conventional feed for Japanese sheep and can be used to not only reduce feed and disposal costs but also increase animal production and meat quality.

Comparison of growth performances, carcass characteristics, and meat qualities of Okinawan indigenous Agu pigs and crossbred pigs sired by Agu or Duroc boar

Indigenous Okinawa Agu pigs are crossed with Large White × Landrace (WL) pigs to improve their meat production, but there is little information regarding the crossbreeding effects. The study aims to compare growth, carcass characteristics, and meat qualities of Agu pigs with those of WL crossbreeds with Agu sires (WLA) or Duroc sires (WLD). WLA pigs showed better growth performance and carcass characteristics and less intramuscular fat (IMF) contents than Agu ones, but they had higher fat deposition, smaller longissimus dorsi muscle area, and higher IMF contents than WLD pigs. Agu pigs showed higher water holding capacity than the other two breeds. The inner layer of Agu backfat contains higher and lower proportions of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), respectively, than that in WLD animals. WLA animals had intermediate values for the fatty acid content in the inner backfat, although MUFA contents were equal to those of Agu pigs. Fatty acid profiles in IMF were similar to those in the backfat. These results indicate that crossbreeding of Agu with WL pigs improves growth performance and carcass quality. Particularly, WLA pigs have higher IMF contents and MUFA concentrations and lower PUFA concentrations than WLD pigs.

Goat Meat Does Not Cause Increased Blood Pressure

While there are persistent rumors that the consumption of goat meat dishes increases blood pressure, there is no scientific evidence to support this. Two experiments were conducted to clarify whether or not blood pressure increases in conjunction with the consumption of goat meat dishes. In experiment 1, 24 Dahl/Iwai rats (15 weeks old, body weight 309.3±11.1 g) were evenly separated into 4 groups. The control group (CP) was fed a diet containing 20% chicken and 0.3% salt on a dry matter basis. The goat meat group (GM) was fed a diet containing 20% goat meat and 0.3% salt. The goat meat/salt group (GS) was fed a diet containing 20% goat meant and 3% to 4% salt. The Okinawan mugwort (Artemisia Princeps Pampan)/salt group (GY) was fed a diet containing 20% goat meat, 3% to 4% salt and 5% of freeze-dried mugwort powder. The experiment 1 ran for a period of 14 weeks during which time the blood pressure of the animals was recorded. The GS, and GY groups consumed significantly more water (p<0.01) than the CP and GM groups despite the fact that their diet consumption levels were similar. The body weight of animals in the CP, GM, and GS groups was similar while the animals in the GY group were significantly smaller (p<0.01). The blood pressure in the GM group was virtually the same as the CP group throughout the course of the experiment. In contrast, while the blood pressure of the animals in the GS and GY group from 15 to 19 weeks old was the same as the CP group, their blood pressures were significantly higher (p<0.01) after 20 weeks of age. The GY group tended to have lower blood pressure than the GS group. In experiment 2, in order to clarify whether or not the increase in blood pressure in the GS group and the GY group in experiment 1 was caused by an excessive intake of salt, the effects on blood pressure of a reduction of salt in diet were investigated. When amount of salt in the diet of the GS and GY group was reduced from 4% to 0.3%, the animal’s blood pressure returned to normotensive. These results indicate that, as in the case of chicken consumption, prolonged consumption of goat meat does not cause increased blood pressure, rather the large amount of salt used in the preparation of goat meat dishes is responsible for the increase in blood pressure.