Value-Added Products From Soil, Brown Coal, and Composted City Solid Waste

This review article highlights alternative innovative uses of soil, brown coal, and composted solid city waste. The latter leads to environmental pollution, which can be addressed by using these materials to generate value-added products. Humic substances present there can be isolated in large amounts and used in diverse fields like sustainable agriculture, horticulture, biomedicine, and materials science. These have been shown to be non-toxic and safe for humans and serve as growth promotants for plants and to cure stomach ailments. The recent discovery of their antiviral/anti-HIV-AIDS activity is described here in some detail. The use of humic substances for making dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and for preparing a catalyst for reduction and for oxidation processes is also highlighted. Such innovative uses of humic substances can lead to environmental cleaning and positively impact climate change.

351 Awardee Talk: Advances in Animal Nutrition Research

The major focus of animal nutrition studies is the efficient production of meat, milk, and eggs. Much has changed in animal nutrition over the past forty years that have facilitated these improvements in efficiencies. While advances in technologies have been quantum and research methodologies have improved yet there remains a need for traditional methodologies. Feed intake, growth rate, and feed efficiency still define success. Nutrient balance and digestibility studies, which originated in the 1800s, provide much-needed information regarding the value of feedstuffs. Bioassays are still needed to ascertain the requirements of each nutrient as these are ever-changing because animals are ever-changing. Genetic improvement dictates that requirements be continually reassessed and refined. Technologies that impact animal production, e.g. growth promotants, ionophores, repartitioning agents, hormones, nutraceuticals, etc. may all impact these requirements and should be considered. The challenge for the next generation of researchers will be to interface the technologies, genomic tools, and traditional approaches to provide targeted nutritional strategies tailored for individual genetic potential. Researchers must have a broader grasp of all the available tools if we ever hope to fully implement technologies and interface these with new knowledge to provide optimal nutrition. Changes in consumer preferences will continue to provide new challenges that must be met by research from a continually decreasing pool of researchers. This too will necessitate broader skill sets and increased multi-disciplinary support. The next 40 years will bring even greater changes and challenges. Animal agriculture must continue to improve. A goal of increased efficiency will not be enough. We must improve on every aspect of health, well-being, and perception. Nutrition research will be a component of these improvements but improving technologies will permit the evaluation of much more. Consumers will demand an optimum existence be demonstrated for each animal.

Use of Lactobacillus plantarum (strains 22F and 25F) and Pediococcus acidilactici (strain 72N) as replacements for antibiotic-growth promotants in pigs

The lactic acid bacteria (LAB) Lactobacillus plantarum (strains 22F and 25F) and Pediococcus acidilactici (strain 72N) have appeared promising as replacements for antibiotics in in vitro studies. Microencapsulation, especially by the spray-drying method, has been used to preserve their numbers and characteristics during storage and digestion. This study compared the efficacy of these strains and their microencapsulated form with antibiotic usage on growth performance, faecal microbial counts, and intestinal morphology in nursing-finishing pigs. A total of 240 healthy neonatal pigs were treated on days 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 after cross-fostering. Sterile peptone water was delivered orally to the control and antibiotic groups. Spray-dried Lactobacillus plantarum strain 22F stored for 6-months was administered to piglets in the spraydry group. Three ml of each the three fresh strains (109 CFU/mL) were orally administered to piglets in each group. All pigs received the basal diets, but these were supplemented with routine antibiotic for the antibiotic group. Pigs in all the probiotic supplemented groups exhibited a better average daily gain and feed conversion ratio than those of the controls in the nursery and grower phases. Probiotic supplementation increased viable lactobacilli and decreased enterobacterial counts. Antibiotic additives reduced both enterobacterial and lactobacilli counts. Villous height and villous height:crypt depth ratio were greater in probiotic and antibiotic supplemented pigs comparing to the controls, especially in the jejunum. The results demonstrated the feasibility of using these strains as a substitute for antibiotics and the practicality of the microencapsulation protocol for use in swine farms.

Use of Lactobacillus plantarum (strains 22F and 25F) and Pediococcus acidilactici (strain 72N) as replacements for antibiotic-growth promotants in pigs

Lactobacillus plantarum (strains 22F and 25F) and Pediococcus acidilactici (strain 72N) have appeared promising in in vitro studies. Microencapsulation, especially by the spray-drying method, has been used to preserve their numbers and characteristics during storage and digestion. This study compared the efficacy of these LAB strains and their microencapsulated form with antibiotic usage on growth performance, faecal microbial counts, and intestinal morphology in nursing-finishing pigs. A total of 240 healthy neonatal pigs were treated on days 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 after cross-fostering. Sterile peptone water was delivered orally to the control and antibiotic groups. Six-month storage spray-dried Lactobacillus plantarum strain 22F was administered to piglets in the spraydry group. The three fresh strains of LAB (109 CFU/mL) were orally administered to piglets in each group. All pigs received the basal diets, but these were supplemented with routine antibiotic for the antibiotic group. Pigs in the probiotic supplemented groups (spray-dried and three fresh strains of LAB) exhibited a better average daily gain and feed conversion ratio than those of the controls in the nursery and grower phases. Probiotic supplementation increased viable lactobacilli and decreased enterobacterial counts. Antibiotic additives reduced both enterobacterial and lactobacilli counts. Villous height and villous height:crypt depth ratio were greater in probiotic and antibiotic supplemented pigs comparing to the controls, especially in the jejunum. The results demonstrated the feasibility of using these strains as a substitute for antibiotics and the practicality of the microencapsulation protocol for use in swine farms.

PERFORMANCE AND VISCERAL ORGAN WEIGHTS OF GUINEA FOWL (Numida meleagris) GIVEN DIFFERENT ANTIBIOTICS AS GROWTH PROMOTANTS

The effect of feeding recommended levels of three antibiotics on the visceral organs of growing guinea fowls has been examined. Day old broiler type guinea fowls were given Oxytetracycline, Rocaryone, and zinc bacitracin supplemented diet till 12 weeks of age. Dressed weight of medicated guineas were significantly higher than controls. No treatment effects were observed on the lungs, gizzards and reproductive organs. Fat pads were significantly (P.05) heavier in treated birds as compared with controls. Heart and liver weights were also significantly higher (P.05) in treated guinea fowls.