Milk production and quality in Sicilo-sarde ewes drenched with Artemisia herba alba or Rosmarinus officinalis essential oils
2014
Aouadi, D | Ben Salem, H
This study aimed to determine the effect of oral administration of essential oils (EOs) extracted from the foliage of Artemisia herba alba (ART) and Rosmarinus officinalis (ROS) to Sicilo-sarde ewes on milk yield and quality.Thirty ewes were divided into three equivalent groups on the basis of liveweight, lactation rank and litter size, and housed in individual boxes. Each animal received oat hay and barley silage ad libi- tum and 500 g of concentrate for 60 days. The control group did not receive EOs, whereas the ART group was drenched with 200 mg of Artemisia EOs per kg DM intake and those of the ROS group with 200 mg of Rosmarinus EOs per kg DM intake. Neither ART nor ROS essential oils affected the rumen fermentation param- eters in ewes. Drenching feeds with ART essential oils increased milk density, fat-free dry matter content, total protein, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. It also increased the concentrations of blood triglycerides and total protein. These results suggest that the administration of ART EOs impacted positively on milk quality of dairy ewes, however, ROS EOs were ineffective. Further studies would be required to define the mechanism explaining such positive effect
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