Feeding Laying Ducks Eucommia ulmoides oliv. Leaves Increases the n-3 Fatty Acids Content and Decreases the n-6: n-3 PUFA Ratio in Egg Yolk without Affecting Laying Performance or Egg Quality

Preparation techniques, structural features, and bioactivities of Eucommia ulmoides polysaccharides: A review

Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. (tu-chung), as a famous nature medical and edible plant, has the effect of tonifying liver and kidney, strengthening the function of the muscles and bones, and miscarriage prevention. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that the polysaccharides from Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. (EUPs) are a kind of vital and representative biologically active macromolecules and have various health-promoting biological activities in vivo and in vitro, such as antioxidant activity, immunomodulatory activity, hypolipidemic and hypoglycemic activities, anti-inflammatory activities, anti-tumor activity, and among others. The review aims to comprehensively and systematically collate the recent research progress on extraction and purification methods, structural characteristics, biological activities, mechanism of action, structural modification, and toxicity of EUPs to support their therapeutic potential and health-care functions. New valuable insights for future research with EUPs were also proposed in the areas of structural characterization and pharmacological activities to promoting the development of therapeutic agents and functional foods.

Dietary supplementation of water extract of Eucommia ulmoides bark improved caecal microbiota and parameters of health in white-feathered broilers

Eucommia ulmoides has been used as a food and medicine homologue for a long time in China. We hypothesize that Eucommia ulmoides achieves its health-promoting effects via altering gut microbiota. Here, we investigated the effects of water extract of Eucommia ulmoides bark on caecal microbiota and growth performance, antioxidant activity, and immunity in white-feathered broilers treated for 42 days. A total of 108 one-day-old Cobb white-feathered broilers were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: control diet, 0.75% Eucommia ulmoides diet (EU Ⅰ) and 1.5% Eucommia ulmoides diet (EU Ⅱ). The results showed that EU Ⅱ treatment improved average body weight (ABW), thigh muscle quality and total length of intestines, and decreased the serum total triglycerides and total cholesterol (TC) (p < 0.05). Eucommia ulmoides supplementation increased serum superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), total antioxidant activities and content of immunoglobulins, and reduced levels of malondialdehyde and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (p < 0.05). Moreover, the supplementation increased the diversity of caecal microbiota and reduced the pathogenic genera Escherichia Shigella and Helicobacter. The genera Ochrobactrum, Odoribater, Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Georgenia and Bifidobacterium were positively associated with the ABW, total intestinal length, serum levels of GSH-Px, SOD and immunoglobulins (p < 0.001) and negatively associated with the TC and TNF-α (p < 0.01), suggesting an association of the changes of gut microbiota and improvement of broiler health. Meanwhile, Eucommia ulmoides supplementation enriched the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway of exocrine secretion from the pancreas, circadian entrainment and inhibited lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis. In conclusion, Eucommia ulmoides water extract can be used as a feed additive to improve poultry industry production.

Geographical region traceability of wild topmouth culter (Culter alburnus) from Xingkai Lake based on muscle quality and aroma profiles

The wild topmouth culter (Culter alburnus) from Xingkai Lake (XKL) is highly regarded for its delicious taste and unique flavor. In this study, based on muscle quality and aroma analysis, we first differentiated the XKL population from three wild populations in Heilongjiang Province and one artificially cultured population (from Xingkai Lake). Compared with the other populations, the XKL population has a significantly higher crude protein content, essential amino acid content, delicious amino acid content, and n-3/n-6 PUFA ratio. Additionally, it exhibits superior hardness, elasticity, chewiness, recoverability, and viscosity. E-nose detection analysis revealed that W1S, W2S, and W3S were the potential sensors contributing the most to the differences among the five populations. HS-SPME-GC-MS and multivariate regression analysis showed that 21 volatile flavor compounds were identified as key markers for geographical identification of the Xingkai Lake region. These findings will provide guidance for the geographical traceability and identification of the XKL population.

Metabolomic characterization of Liancheng white and Cherry Valley duck breast meat and their relation to meat quality

Liancheng white duck is a typical local duck breed in Fujian Province famous for its meat traits. To better understand how meat quality varies with breed, the chemical composition of breast meats of Liancheng white ducks (LD) and Cherry Valley ducks (CD) were examined using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS).The correlation between meat quality and the differential metabolites was further analyzed. The results showed that the effects of breed on duck breast meat were significant for pH, color, cooking loss, and shear force. Liancheng white duck breast meat exhibited a higher shear force and pH, and lower cooking loss and lightness (L*24), redness (a*24), and yellowness (b*24) than CD. Metabolomic analysis revealed significant differences between the meat extracts from the 2 duck breeds. A total of 49 and 57 significantly different metabolites were identified in positive and negative ion modes, respectively. These differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) could be divided into 28 classes, of which the 4 main categories were carbohydrates, amino acids, fatty acids, and eicosanoids. Liancheng white duck might have better nutritional and medicinal value considering the higher content of (4Z,7Z,10Z,13Z,16Z,19Z)-4,7,10,13,16,19-docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and prostaglandinF3α (PGF3α), having anti-inflammatory orantioxidant effects. Carbohydrate concentration negatively correlated with pH24. The 4 metabolites positively correlated with the shear force. These results provide an overall perspective for bridging the gap between variation of duck meat quality and metabolites with respect to breed.

Improvement of egg internal quality of local ducks through star gooseberry leaf meal inclusion in ration

Objectives

The use of dried star gooseberry leaf extract (DSGLE) in rations and its effects on the egg internal quality of local ducks were examined.

Materials and Methods

A total of 100 9-month-old local ducks weighing 1,406.25 ± 211.32 gm were randomly allocated into 5 treatments and 5 replicates in a completely randomized design. The birds were reared in 25 battery cages (4 birds each) and fed rations containing 0, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0% DSGLE.

Results

Eggs of ducks fed DSGLE had significantly lower saturated fatty acid (SFA) (30.66%-32.53%) than those of control ducks (36.23%). Egg polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) increased from 2.29% (control) to 2.61% (2.0% DSGLE) and 2.76% (1.5% DSGLE), while egg monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) contents were not significantly different. The fatty acids of the whole edible part of eggs (albumen + yolk) were composed mainly of MUFA (40.19%-44.34%), followed by SFA (30.66%-36.22%), and PUFA (2.29%-2.76%). Malondialdehyde contents were reduced from 6.07 to 4.92 µg/gm (19%) in egg yolk and from 1.50 to 0.62 µg/gm (59%) in egg white, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances values of the eggs were reduced from 0.93 to 1.65 (77%). The egg cholesterol level of ducks fed 2% DSGLE (21.94 mg/gm) was about 28.5% lower than that of eggs from control ducks (30.67 mg/gm) of eggs of control ducks. The egg white and egg yolk protein contents (12.31% and 16.35%) of treated ducks were lower than those in the control group (13.58% and 17.47%).

Conclusion

The inclusion of SGLE in rations could be used to produce healthy duck eggs with no oxidative damage.