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Broiler chickens are increasingly kept in large numbers in intensive housing conditions that are stressful, potentially depleting the immune system. With the prohibition of the use of antibiotics in poultry feed spreading worldwide, it is necessary to consider the role of natural feed additives and antibiotic alternatives to stimulate the chickens’ immune systems. We review the literature to describe phytogenic feed additives that have immunomodulatory benefits in broilers. We initially review the major active ingredients from plants, particularly flavonoids, resveratrol and humic acid, and then describe the major herbs, spices, and other plants and their byproducts that have immunomodulatory effects. The research reviewed demonstrates the effectiveness of many natural feed additives in improving the avian immune system and therefore broiler health. However, some, and perhaps all, additives have the potential to reduce immunocompetence if given in excessive amounts. Sometimes additives are more effective when given in combination. There is an urgent need to determine tolerance levels and optimum doses for additives deemed most suitable to replace antibiotics in the diet of broiler chickens. Effective replacement is most likely with readily available additives, such as olive oil byproducts, olive leaves and alfalfa. It is concluded that effective replacement of antibiotic function with plant-derived additives will be possible, but that further research is necessary to determine optimum doses.

The paper presents the results of studying the influence of the season on the change in the physico-chemical and amino acid composition of milk obtained from black-and-white cows. During the analysis, it was revealed that the composition of milk throughout the year was not constant. The highest fat content in milk was produced in autumn and winter, while the highest protein content was found in spring and summer milk. The amino acid composition of milk in the autumn-winter period is higher compared to the spring-summer period, which is due to a change in the diet, namely the predominance of concentrated feeds in winter. Based on the data obtained, it can be assumed that the milk produced by JSC named after Kirov, meets all requirements and can be recommended for the production of high-quality food.

The scientific article presents the results of a scientific experiment conducted to study the quality indicators of beef obtained from interbreeding of cattle of meat, dairy and combined breeds in the conditions of the Volgograd agricultural enterprise JSC \"Berdievsky Elevator\". The resulting crossbred bulls at the age of 9 months were divided into 4 groups of 10 heads each according to the principle of pairs of analogues: I experimental group of ½ crossbreed (Kazakh white-headed x Russian brown), II experimental group of ½ crossbreed (Kazakh white-headed x Aberdeen-Angus), III experimental group of ½ crossbreed (Aberdeen-Angus x red steppe), IV experimental group of ½ crossbreed (Simmental x red-mottled). The formed groups of animals were put on fattening up to 16 months of age. The growth dynamics of bulls and the qualitative characteristics of beef were evaluated.

The authors have developed a technology for a 3.2 % fat fermented dairy product enriched with Jerusalem artichoke powder and red currant juice. High sensory indicators have been established, and taste characteristics of the product have been determined. The assessment of the nutritional value of the developed product has revealed an increase in the weight fraction of protein by 0.2 % and carbohydrates by 1.5 %, including nutrients by 123.28 ± 0.11 mg/100 g of product and dietary fiber by 161.36 ± 0.14 mg/100 g of product. The acid production efficiency of the enriched fermented dairy product increased, which resulted in reducing the fermentation time of the developed product by 1 hour in comparison with the traditional one. The developed product is microbiologically safe. Lactic acid microorganisms in the enriched product considerably exceeded the control values, which proved its pre- and probiotic properties.

The study aims at elucidating the effect of bacilli probiotic preparations on the physiology of laying hens and roosters. Probiotic formulations were prepared as soybean products fermented by Bacillus subtilis KATMIRA1933 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens B-1895. In this study, groups of male and female chickens were used. These groups received a probiotic preparation based on either B. subtilis KATMIRA1933 or B. amyloliquefaciens B-1895, or of a mixture of strains, from the first day to the age of 39 weeks. These preparations positively affected egg production, quality of sperm production, and quality and hatchery of eggs. Considering the simplicity and cost effectiveness of the soy-based probiotic preparation, these formulations should be considered as advantageous in modern livestock production.

ABSTRACT Crossbred 7-month old steers from Kalmyk cows bred to Kalmyk (I, control), Simmental (II), Hereford (III), or Kazakh white-headed (IV) bulls were housed and fed under the same conditions. The bulls used were all classed as Elite. The feeding rate was intense. Steers in all groups were raised in the feedlot throughout the year. Growth rate of the crossbred steers was greater than the purebred steers. This was reflected in higher yields of the most valuable parts of the carcasses, the rump and saddle. Simmental crosses were distinguished by the lower fat content of their muscle tissue compared to the purebred Kalmyk steers and crossbred steers in groups III and IV. However, the differences in the energy value of the muscles analyzed was insignificant (P>0.05). We revealed a comparatively high biological value of flesh from steers in all groups. The moisture retention capacity ranged from 63.75 to 64.12% due to intramuscular fat in the meat. The pH value of the beef samples in all studied groups was at the optimal level.

In the current study, we performed in vivo investigation of probiotic intake influence on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA damage of hens, using quantitative PCR techniques. The probiotic supplementation to the diet of Hisex Brown hens had no significant effect on the rate of telomere shortening. After prolonged probiotic intake (225 and 445 days), the 18–21% decrease in the mtDNA lesions was detected. Since avian mitochondrial DNA damage investigations are rare, the current study of the probiotic-enriched diet’s impact on the damage of the hen mitochondrial DNA is novel and highly important. The decrease of mtDNA damage is a beneficial property, which could positively affect the reproductive aging of hens. The positive impact of probiotic supplementation on hens’ performance traits such as hen-day egg production, egg weight and mass, and feed conversion ratio was observed.

A promising approach for slowing down the rate of reproductive aging is the use of probiotic bacteria as a feed additive. In the current study was investigated the influence of the intake of a potential probiotic on the follicle content and expression of vitellogenin genes ( vtg1 , vtg2 , vtg3 ) in aged hens. RNA was isolated from liver samples collected from 570-day-old laying hens and gene expression levels were measured using RT-PCR. Bacillus subtilis KATMIRA1933 supplementation had a positive effect on the number of formed follicles in hens and also triggered a significant increase in the relative expression levels of vtg1 , vtg2 , and vtg 3. A Bacillus amyloliquefaciens B-1895 enriched diet or a combination of the two strains had a modest effect on both the number of follicles and the expression of vitellogenin genes. Additionally, the study demonstrates that vitellogenin mRNA expression levels can be considered as a biomarker in a convenient approach for analyzing the hen’s egg-laying ability.

The increase in the shelf life of perishable food products is one of the priority trends in the development of the food and processing industry. A study has been carried out of the effect of various doses of ionizing radiation on the safety of refrigerated semi-finished pork products packed in the modified atmosphere. The meat samples were processed singly by ionization at different doses - 8 kGy and 12 kGy with the help of a linear electron accelerator of a UELR-10-10S2 type with power of up to 10 MeV. The refrigerated pork neck on the bone, packed using modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and processed by ionization at doses of 8 kGy and 12 kGy, meets the requirements of the technical regulations of the Customs Union \"On Food Safety\" (TR TS 021/2011) and \"On safety of meat and meat products\" (TR TS 034/2013) for the entire storage period. The irradiation dose of 12 kGy leads to a slight color change, an increase in the acid and peroxide numbers and volatile fatty acids, but within the limits of the norm; a slight decrease in the moisture content with a high degree of correlation of the studied indicators. The indicators of microbiological safety of the meat semi-finished products processed by different irradiation doses are within the normal range. It has been established that the higher the irradiation dose, the lower the values of microbiological indicators. The organoleptic indicators are confirmed by histological studies. The radiation processing of meat semi-finished products allows us to prolong the shelf life of the meat semi-finished products packed using MAP more than 3 times. Based on the results of the studies, it is possible to recommend the processing of meat semi-finished products by ionization at a dose of 8 kGy to increase their shelf life.

Background Accurate inference of genetic ancestry is of fundamental interest to many biomedical, forensic, and anthropological research areas. Genetic ancestry memberships may relate to genetic disease risks. In a genome association study, failing to account for differences in genetic ancestry between cases and controls may also lead to false-positive results. Although a number of strategies for inferring and taking into account the confounding effects of genetic ancestry are available, applying them to large studies (tens thousands samples) is challenging. The goal of this study is to develop an approach for inferring genetic ancestry of samples with unknown ancestry among closely related populations and to provide accurate estimates of ancestry for application to large-scale studies. Methods In this study we developed a novel distance-based approach, Ancestry Inference using Principal component analysis and Spatial analysis (AIPS) that incorporates an Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation method from spatial analysis to assign individuals to population memberships. Results We demonstrate the benefits of AIPS in analyzing population substructure, specifically related to the four most commonly used tools EIGENSTRAT, STRUCTURE, fastSTRUCTURE, and ADMIXTURE using genotype data from various intra-European panels and European-Americans. While the aforementioned commonly used tools performed poorly in inferring ancestry from a large number of subpopulations, AIPS accurately distinguished variations between and within subpopulations. Conclusions Our results show that AIPS can be applied to large-scale data sets to discriminate the modest variability among intra-continental populations as well as for characterizing inter-continental variation. The method we developed will protect against spurious associations when mapping the genetic basis of a disease. Our approach is more accurate and computationally efficient method for inferring genetic ancestry in the large-scale genetic studies.