Productive performance, digestion and metabolism of dairy cows fed with different levels of chitosan in diets

Abstract

The utilization of different additives for ruminants has been common practice on the feeds, mainly for allow improved utilization of nutrients and a better productive performance of animals. Recently, it was proposed to use chitosan to modulate fermentation and digestion ruminal with promising results. Chitosan (polymer N-acetyl-D-glucosamine) is a natural biopolymer derived from the deacetylation of chitin, and this, in turn, is nature's most abundant biopolymer after cellulose polysaccharide being distributed worldwide as the main component of the crustaceans and exoskeleton insects as well in cell walls of some bacteria and fungi. For be a nontoxic and biodegradable biopolymer, chitosan has received much attention by the large potential for applications in medicine and preservation of food, especially for its antimicrobial property against bacteria, fungi and yeast. Also, chitosan has a low cost because it is a byproduct of the fishing industry. A scientific hypothesis to be evaluated in this research project is that the use of the adequate dose of chitosan alters the proportion of short-chain fatty acids, without interfering negatively on consumption and digestibility of dry matter and nutrients by improving production and milk composition. That experiment will be conducted to evaluate the effects of different chitosan concentrations in the diets of lactating cows on intake and total apparent digestibility of dry matter and nutrients, fermentation and rumen microbial protein synthesis, production and milk composition, concentrations of blood parameters, profile of fatty acid in milk fat, and energy balances and nitrogen. (AU)