GB2159690A - Method and agent for the optimisation of the assimilation of the feed ration by fattening ruminants - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of optimisation of the assimilation of the feed ration in fattening ruminants, comprising possibly a maintenance period, consists in making the ruminant ingest, at the same time as the normal food ration, an effective amount of sorbitol. Foodstuffs for growing cattle can comprise an effective amount of sorbitol for example between 0.1 to 2.0% by weight.

Description

SPECIFICATION Method and agentforthe optimisation otthe assimilation of the food ration by growing cattle The invention relates to a method and to an agent for the optimisation of the assimilation ofthefood ration by growing cattle, that is to say by ruminants intended for meat production.

The invention also relates to the optimisation ofthe assimilation ofthe food ration of ruminants intended for meat production when the said ruminants are in a maintenance period, particuularlythewinterseason.

The invention also relates, as new industrial products, to compositions and foodstuff forms intended for said animals and incorporating this agent.

The optimisation ofthe assimilation ofthefood rationthat is to say the obtaining of an increase in weight as high and rapid as possible for a given ration - is wished for by reason of its effects from the economic point of view whatever the type of breeded cattle concerned.

It has a particular importance in the case of ru m inants -- pa rticu larly oxen, bull-calves, cows, heifers -- i ntented forfattening, that is to say the production of meat, by reason of the well known fact that a part only of the food is used by these animals for their growth, this by reason ofthe nature of foodstuffs currently distributed, which are only partly digested, as well as by reason of their particular anatomy essentially adapted to a herbivorous diet.

It has already been proposed, to overcome this drawback, to protect, for example bytanning or by encapsulation, at least certain of the constituent eiements ofthefood ration to avoid them being too considerably degraded in the rumen and so that they can reach the duodenum.

It has also been proposed, in afield differentfrom that of the fastening of ruminants, namely that of increasing the blood sugar content and the milk yield of ruminants (French Patent No. 2,344,233), to use xylitol mother liquors as additives for foodstuffs for milking cows; itis recalled in this respectthatthe alimentarydietofthe milch-cowisverydifferentfrom that of growing cattle both in the different ratio of digestabie protein to non-digestable protein, and by the addition of carbohydrates.The Xylitol mother liquors to which recourse is had, comprise with respectto the dry matterfrom 5% to 25% of xylitol, from 20% to 35% of arabitol and 10% to 25% of mannitol, 5% to 15% of sorbitol, from 5% to 10% of dulcitol and from 5% to 10% of rhamnitol.

According to the explanation given, the effect on the milk production obtained by the addition of xylitol mother liquors to the forage is due to the factthat polyalcohols of a glucidic character have an excellent resistance to degradation in the rumen and that they would thus be capable of reaching the intestine before a considerable degradation occurs. The in vitro study of the resistance to degradation of the different polyols concerned has led to the observation that pentitols (xylitoi and arabitol) offer byfarthe best resistance, whereas sorbitol is degraded much more rapidly.

The fact that the xylitol mother liquors can be considered as additive without danger and useful for the feeding of milch-cows, results also from the study, published in "NUTRITION REPORTS INTERNATION AL", June 1981,viol. 23, n, p. 1077-1087.

A more recent work published in "J. Sc. Food Agr." 1984, vol.35, p.21-28, relates to trials on sheep and shows also that sorbitol and mannitoi disappear rapidly, especially by incubation with adapted microorganisms, and cannot be detected in the digestive contents of the duodenum, thus confirming thatthe effects observed from the point of view of the increase in the production of milk by administration ofxylitol mother liquors to milking cows, are due exclusively to pentitols like xylitol and arabitol.

Taking into consideration the reality ofthis very rapid degradation of sorbitol in the rumen of ruminants, of which fact the immediate consequence is that this hexitol does not reach the duodenum, the man skilled in the artwould wave aside any possibility of action on the part ofthe sorbitol on phenomena accompanying digestion and assimilation of foodstuffs in the case of growing cattle.

And it is - neither the knowledge of French patent N 79 01697, which recommendsthe use of sorbitol, as a cholagogic agent, in the preruminant calf, which could change anything at all in this respect in the mind of the man skilled in the artsincethe preruminant calf has a monogastricanimal physiology, -northefactthatsorbitol has already been used to complement certain vitamin solutionsorcertain curative preparations, the administration then being carried out either with very low doses, or with larger doses but ponctually and episodically and fora limited time, in the case of digestive troubles of certain animals.

Underthese conditions, the merit of Appiicants is all the greater in having found that, quite surprisingly and unexpectedly, the addition of a small amount of sorbitol to feedstuffs for growing cattle, that is to say for meat production, enabled the assimilation ofthe food ration forthese animals to be optimised, in other words -to increasesignificantlythe average dailygain in weight and, simultaneously, -to improve the consumption index which is illustrated by the ratio "amount of foodstuff ingested amount of meat produced".

Itfollows that the method according to the invention of optimising assimilation of the food ration in growing cattle comprising possibly a maintenance period, is characterised by the fact that the ruminants are made to ingest or eat, at the same time as the normal foodstuff ration, an effective amount of sorbitol.

It follows also thatthe agentforthe optimsation of the assimilation ofthefeedstuff ration in the growing cattle is charactised by the fact that it is essentially constituted by sorbitol ofwhich is intended consequently the application to the abovesaid process of optimisation.

It follows finally that the foodstufffor growing cattle according to the invention is characterised by the fact that it comprises an effective amount ofthe abovesaid agent, constituted essentially by sorbitol.

Whicheverthat ofthe various aspects of the invention defined above which is retained, the sorbitol employed can be in the form of a powder or of a solution, or pure, or in the form of a hydrogenated starch hydrolysate of which it represents the principal constituent; preferably, the sorbitol is, in the latter case, present in the proportion of at least 71% by weight, expressed on the dry matter content ofthe hydrolysate.

Advantageousiy, the amount of sorbitol employed is at least 10 g per day, the practical limit, not imperative but imposed by economic considerations, being about200g per day.

More precisely, the abovesaid lower limit is about 20 g and the upper limit about 129 g per day, an amountfrequentlyselected being 80 g per day.

In an advantageous embodiment ofthe invention, the industrial product constituted by the foodstuff for the ruminant, comprises a proportion of about 0.1 to about 2% by weight, preferably from about 0.3% to about 1.2% of sorbitol, these percentages being expressed in dry matter to dry matter.

The use of sorbitol inthefeeding of ruminants enables, as illustrated by the examples, the average daily gain in weight of the animals to be very substantially increased; what is important, is that this average daily gain is not obtained bya larger consumption of foostuffs since the consumption index is not higher but, on the contrary, even generally lower.

The mechanism of action ofthe sorbitol has not yet been explained.

Tests made within the scope of the invention have shown besides, thatthe optimisation effect exerted by sorbitol is particularly marked with foodstuffs having contents oftotal nitrogenous materials which are low oraverage, that isto say less than 15% and, in practice, comprised between about 9% and about 13%, these percentages being expressed in N x 6.25 with respect two dry matter.

A preferred embodient ofthe method according to the invention consists therefore of causing the ruminantto ingest an effective amount of sorbitol at the same time as a foodstuff having a content of N x 6.25 lessthan 15% and, preferably, comprised between 9% and 13% by weight.

The administration of the sorbitol maybe done by mixing with other constituents of the food ration ofthe ruminant at meal times; it is possible to provide ready-for-use mixes, that is to say feed stuffs directly useable and comprising, besides the sorbitol, at least certain of, if not all the constituents of the food ration.

The invention will be still better understood by means of the examples which follow and which comprise the description of advantageous embodiments.

EXAMPLE 7 By this example, it is shown that sorbitol is very rapidly degraded by the microorganisms of the rumen and hence cannot reach the duodenum.

It relates to an in vitro test, carried out according to the technique developed by I.N.R.A. of Theix and in which various amounts of sorbitol are placed to incubateforsix hours at 39 C in a medium not limiting in ammoniacal nitrogen and in the presence of a large amount of contents and of juice ofthe rumen.

Samplings of the juice and ofthe contents ofthe rumen are made before feeding on a heifer provided with a fistula of the rumen and receiving a constant foodstuff regimen free from sorbitol.

The composition ofthe above-said medium is as follows: -400 ml of artifical saliva whose composition is as follows: .bicarbonate 9.24 9 disodlum phosphate 7.129 K K chloride 0.45 9 Ca chloride 0.055 g Mg chloride 0.047 g .distilledwaterq.s.p. 1 liter, - 200 ml of rumen juice, -200 g of rumen contents, 15 g of potato pulp and -0.250g of urea.

In three Erlenmeyerflasks, each containing a liter of this medium, are added respectively 0.40,0.80 and 1.60 g of sorbitol.

The residual sorbitol is measured specifically in four samplings carried out respectively after 1 h, 2 h 30 minutes, 4 hand 6 h of incubation.

The results obtained are collected in Table I.

TALE I

Amount (in 9) of residual sorbitol in the sample taken at -t- t= Oh t= th t= 2h 30 mn t= 4h t= 6h Erlenmeyer n 1 0.40 0.25 0.02 0 0 Erlenmeyer n 2 0.80 0.45 0.06 0 0 Erlenmeyer n 3 1.60 1.05 0.72 0.40 0 After2 hours and a half of incubation, the sorbitol is hence completely degraded for the doses of 0.40 and 0.80 g; with a dose of 1.60 g, it is completely degraded atthe end of six hours.

EXAMPLE2 To confirm the results presented in Example I, the fate of the sorbitol in the rumen was studied in the Laboratoryof Ruminant Digestion of the I.N.R.A. at Theix on three sheep each bearing two canulae, one to the rumen and the otherto the duodenum.

40 g of sorbitol was introduced in a single dose to the rumen through the canula of the rumen before the morning feeding.

Samplings juice and of contents of the rumen were carried out after 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 90 minutes, 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours and 8 hours.

At the same moments, samples were taken at the level ofthe duodenum.

The determination ofthe sorbitol in these samples showed: -that the sorbitol disappeared very rapidly from the rumen, the ratio of residual sorbitol being below the detection threshoid 90 minutes after administration.

-thatthe amount of sorbitol, which arrives in the small intestine, is very low, that is to say ofthe order of 2% ofthe amount administered, despite the size of this amount administered in a single does.

EXAMPLE 3 Two in vivo tests were carried out at the Laboratory of Meat Production of l.N.R.A. atTheix on bull-calves aged eight months; two types of feed stuffs were tried, the first having corn husks as a base, the other having corn seed or grain as a base.

a) Results obtained with the foodstuff based on corn husks Six feeding diets whose composition is indicated in Table II, were administered to six groups of five bull-calves.

TABLE II COMPOSITION OF FOOD-STUFF DIETS

Constituent Regime Regime Regime Regime Regime Regime [%] n 1 n 2 n' 3 n 4 n 5 n' 6 Corn husks 79.1 79.7 78.2 78.8 77.3 77.9 Starch 13.1 13.2 13.0 13.1 12.8 12.9 Corn grain 5.5 5.5 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.4 Vitaminised mi neral condiment 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 Urea O 0 1.1 1.1 2.2 2.2 Sorbitol 0.70 0 0.70 0 0.70 0 Total nitroge nous materials 19 of N x 6.25 per kg) 90.75 90.4 121.3 121.9 152.0 152.6 The resu Its obtained with the various food stuff diets or regimens are collected in Table III.

TABLE III

Identification of the Regimen magnitude contemplated Duration n 1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n 5 n S Accumulated 56 days 1025 888 1263 1221 1096 1236 average daily 124 days 11G2 1030 1130 120D 112D 1230 gain lin gi 142 days 113T t042 1193 1103 114D 1245 Gain in weight (in g) 56 days 145 1117 187 170 15t 174 Forage units ingested 124 days 153 13D 157 153 150 161 On examining the values collected in Table Ill, it is observed that the sorbitol improved the average daily gain andthatthis increaseisnotduetoan increase in the amount of ingested foodstuff.In fact, the gain in weight per unit energy is improved when sorbitol is added.

On the other hand, for this type of foodstuff, the sorbitol does not seem to have any effect when the content of njtrogenous material is higher than 15%.

b) Foodstuffregimen based on corn grain The composition of the foodstuff diets is indicated in Table IV. Each regimen is administered to a group of bull-calves.

TABLE TV COMPOSITION OF FOODSTUFFS

Constituent Regime Regime Regime Regime Regime Regime (Z) n 1 n' 2 n 3 n 4 n S n' 6 Corn grain 76.9 77.4 75.9 76.5 75.2 75.8 Starch 6.7 6.8 6.6 6.7 6.5 6.6 Corn husks 12.4 12.6 12.4 12.5 12.1 12.2 Vitaminised mi neral condiment 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 Urea Q Q 1.1 1.1 2.2 2 Sorbitol 0.80 0 0.80 0 0.80 0 Total nitroge nous material (g of N x 6.25 per kg) 93.494.1 124.0 125.0 154.6 155.3 The results obtained are collected in Table V.

TABLE V

Identification of the Regimen magnitude considered Duration n 1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n 5 n 6 Abcumulated 56 days 888 621 1107 1023 1236 1264 average daily 124 days 1000 790 t270 713D 134ss 1390 g@in (in 9) 142 days 970 618 1232 1151 1352 1392 @ain in weight tin ol 56 days 135 88 165 144 183 178 Forage units ingested 124 days 132 102 168 146 177 181 It is here again observed that addition of sorbitol considerably improved the average daily gain and foodstuff effectiveness for animals receiving foodstuffs whose content is N x 6.25 is about 9% to 12.5%.

Claims (14)

1. Amethodforthe optimisation oftheassimilation of the feed ration in growing cattle comprising possibly a maintenance period, characterised by the factthatthe ruminant is made to ingest, at the same time as the normal foodstuff ration, an effective amount of sorbitol.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 characterised by the fact that the amount of sorbitol employed is at least 10 g per day.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 characterised in thatthe upper limit ofthe amount of sorbitol employed is about 200 g per day.

4. A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 characterised in thatthe amount of sorbitol employed is from about 20 to about 120 g per day.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4 in which the amount of sorbitol is about 80 g per day.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1 substantially as herein described.

7. Optimisation agentforthe assimilation ofthe feed ration in growing cattle, characterised by the fact that it is essentially constituted by sorbitol.

8. Useofsorbitol as an optimisation agentforthe assimilation ofthefeed ration in growing cattle.

9. Foodstuffforgrowing cattle characterised by the fact that itcomprises an effective amount of the agent according to claim 7.

10. Foodstufffor growing cattle, characterised in that it contains an amount of sorbitol of between about 0.1 and about 2% by weight.

11. Afoodstuff as claimed in claim 10 in which the amount of sorbitol is from about 0.3 to about 1.2% by weight.

12. Afoodstuff as claimed in claims 10 or claim 11 characterised by the fact that it has a total nitrogenous material content of less than 15% and a sorbitol content between about 0.1 % and about 2% by weight.

13. Afoodstuffasclaimed in claim 12 in which the total nitrogenous material content is from about 9% to about 13% by weight.

14. A foodstuff as claimed in claim 10 substantiai- lv as herein described with reference to the Examples.