Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima D.) Silage as a Feed that Improves Nutritional Properties of Cow’s Milk

Authors
G. Halik 1
A. Lozicki 1
J. Wilczak 2
E. Arkuszewska 1
M. Makarski 1
1 Department of Animal Nutrition and Biotechnology, Faculty of Animal Science, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Ciszewskiego 8, 02-786 Warsaw, Poland.
2 Department of Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland.
Abstract
The study was performed with 40 Simmental cows divided into four groups (treatments). The group I received diet with grass silage, maize silage, and concentrate. Group II was fed similar as group I plus 400 mg d-1 cow-1 of β-carotene. In group III, 40% maize silage DM was replaced with pumpkin silage to ensure a 400 mg higher β-carotene intake compared to the group I. In group IV, 60% of maize silage DM was replaced with pumpkin silage without balancing β-carotene. Milk samples were collected at 4 and 8 weeks of experiment. The milk was analyzed for the basic composition, carotenoids, Total Antioxidant Status (TAS), and composition of fatty acids. In both measurements, the highest content of α-carotene, β-carotene, lutein, violaxanthin were in the milk of group IV, and the lowest in group I. In the milk groups III and IV, higher content of PUFA, including n-3 PUFA, was found in successive samplings. In all samplings, milk TAS in group I was significantly lower compared to groups III and IV.

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Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology
Volume 20, Issue 7
November and December 2018
Pages 1383-1394