State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China.
Livestock Production Science Branch, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Hillsborough, County Down BT26 6DR, United Kingdom.
Animal. 2023 Aug;17(8):100910. doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2023.100910. Epub 2023 Jul 10.
Ligularia virgaurea is the most widely functional native herbage in the alpine meadow pastures of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and has multiple pharmacological and biological activities. The effect of L. virgaurea as a dietary component on the digestion and metabolism of sheep was evaluated by conducting feeding trials in metabolic cages. Thirty-two Tibetan yearling rams (29 ± 1.56 kg BW) were randomly allotted to four groups included in a completely randomised design with eight animals per treatment. Sheep were fed a basal diet (freshly native pasture) without the addition of L. virgaurea (control) or with the addition of L. virgaurea (100, 200, or 300 mg/kg BW per day) for 45 days. Addition of L. virgaurea to the diet of Tibetan sheep was found to influence the average daily gain (quadratic [Q], P < 0.001), feed conversion ratio (Q, P = 0.002), CH emissions (linear [L], P = 0.029), DM (Q, P = 0.012), neutral detergent fibre (Q, P = 0.017), acid detergent fibre (ADF) (Q, P = 0.027), and ether extract (EE) intake (Q, P = 0.026). Apparently, different levels of L. virgaurea affected the digestibility coefficients of DM, ADF, and EE (L, P > 0.05; Q, P < 0.05). The nitrogen (N) intake (Q, P = 0.001), retained nitrogen (Q, P < 0.001), and N utilisation efficiency (L, P > 0.05; Q, P ≤ 0.001) were also affected by the dietary inclusion of L. virgaurea. Effects of L. virgaurea feeding were also witnessed on methane energy (CH-E) (L, P = 0.029), gross energy (GE) (Q, P = 0.013), digestible energy (DE) (Q, P = 0.015), and metabolisable energy (ME) intake (Q, P = 0.015). Energy utilisation efficiency expressed as a proportion of GE intake (DE/GE intake, ME/GE intake, ME/DE intake, FE/GE intake, and CH-E/GE intake) manifested quadratic changes (P < 0.05) with the increase in the L. virgaurea supplementation level. The addition of L. virgaurea increased the activity of superoxide dismutase (Q, P = 0.026) and glutathione peroxidase activity (Q, P = 0.039) in the serum. Overall, the greatest improvement of feed digestibility, N retention, energy utilisation, and antioxidant capacity of Tibetan sheep was yielded by the inclusion of 200 mg/kg BW per day of L. virgaurea. Therefore, the addition of an appropriate amount of L. virgaurea to the diet of Tibetan sheep is safe and natural, and may enhance the sustainability of small ruminant production systems in QTP areas.
匙叶翼首花是青藏高原高寒草甸牧场最具多功能的本土牧草，具有多种药理和生物学活性。通过在代谢笼中进行饲养试验，评估匙叶翼首花作为膳食成分对绵羊消化和代谢的影响。32 只西藏周岁公羊（29±1.56kgBW）被随机分配到四个组，每个处理组包括 8 只动物，采用完全随机设计。绵羊饲喂基础日粮（新鲜本地牧场），不添加匙叶翼首花（对照）或添加匙叶翼首花（100、200 或 300mg/kgBW 每天）45 天。在藏羊日粮中添加匙叶翼首花会影响平均日增重（二次[Q]，P<0.001）、饲料转化率（Q，P=0.002）、CH 排放（线性[L]，P=0.029）、DM（Q，P=0.012）、中性洗涤剂纤维（Q，P=0.017）、酸性洗涤剂纤维（ADF）（Q，P=0.027）和乙醚提取物（EE）摄入（Q，P=0.026）。显然，不同水平的匙叶翼首花影响 DM、ADF 和 EE 的消化率系数（L，P>0.05；Q，P<0.05）。氮（N）摄入量（Q，P=0.001）、保留氮（Q，P<0.001）和氮利用效率（L，P>0.05；Q，P≤0.001）也受到匙叶翼首花日粮添加的影响。匙叶翼首花的饲喂还影响甲烷能量（CH-E）（L，P=0.029）、总能（GE）（Q，P=0.013）、可消化能（DE）（Q，P=0.015）和代谢能（ME）摄入量（Q，P=0.015）。以 GE 摄入量表示的能量利用效率（DE/GE 摄入量、ME/GE 摄入量、ME/DE 摄入量、FE/GE 摄入量和 CH-E/GE 摄入量）呈二次变化（P<0.05），随着匙叶翼首花补充水平的增加而增加。匙叶翼首花的添加提高了血清中超氧化物歧化酶（Q，P=0.026）和谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶活性（Q，P=0.039）的活性。总的来说，匙叶翼首花添加 200mg/kgBW 每天可最大程度地提高藏羊的饲料消化率、氮保留、能量利用和抗氧化能力。因此，在藏羊日粮中添加适量的匙叶翼首花是安全和自然的，可能会提高青藏高原地区小反刍动物生产系统的可持续性。
