INCLUSION OF TASTE AND AROMA IN THE TOTAL MIXED RATION AND THEIR EFFECT ON DIETARY PREFERENCE AND GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF CALVES
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Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL
Abstract
The present investigation was conducted to evaluate the inclusion of taste
and aroma in the total mixed ration (TMR) and their effects on dietary preference
and growth performance of calves. The study was divided into two phases. In
Phase 1, three different levels of five tastes and five artificial feed aromas were
added in paddy straw-based TMR’s and their effects on dietary preference and
feed intake of growing KF calves were studied using a sequential elimination trial.
Tastes include sweet (sucrose), umami (MSG), salty (NaCl), bitter (urea) and sour
(citric acid). Whereas aromas include lacto-vanilla, maize, guar korma, green grass
and silage. At inclusion level 1, TMR was mixed with i. Sucrose, ii. MSG, iii. Sodium
chloride, iv. Urea, and v. Citric acid at rates of 50, 10, 15, 5 and 10 g/kg DM,
respectively. However, rate of artificial feed aromas inclusion was 2.5 g/kg DM.
Ingredient dose rates for tastes and feed aroma were further increased by 25%
and 50%, respectively, at inclusion levels 2 and 3. All taste ingredients and feed
aromas were dissolved in water and sprayed on paddy straw-based TMR (the ratio
of roughage to concentrate was 70:30). For the animal trial, six healthy growing KF
calves were selected and each kept in an individual pen. The sequential elimination
trial was conducted in five slots. The duration of slots 1,2,3,4 and 5 was six, five,
four, three, and two days, respectively. During the sequential elimination trial on
tastes, six paddy straw-based TMR’s were offered to each calf, in which five TMR
had a different taste and one was without taste. After completing slot 1 of six days,
the most preferred diet with the highest DMI was eliminated. Likewise, the
remaining five feed was fed for five days in 2nd slot, four feed was fed for four days
in 3rd slot, three feed was fed for three days in 4th slot and two feed was fed for two
days in 5th slot. The same trial was conducted for three different levels of inclusions
of aroma. It was found that among the taste, sweet was the most preferred (p<0.01)
taste, followed by umami, salty, bitter, sour and control. While, in inclusion level 3,
DMI (kg/100kg BW; g/kg BW0.75) was decreased (p<0.01) and TMR without taste
was more preferred than sour and salty in the 4th and 5th slot. Among the feed
aromas, preference ranking, lacto-vanilla and maize were comparable, followed by
guar korma, green grass, silage and control. In contrast, the level of aroma
inclusion did not affect the DMI (kg/100kg BW; g/kg BW0.75). In Phase 2, a growth
trial on 24 healthy KF calves was conducted to know the effects of the inclusion of
sucrose as a sweet taste and lacto-vanilla aroma on feed intake, digestibility, blood
biochemical parameters, and growth performance of animals. The selected
animals were divided into four treatment groups based on their body weight. Each
group had six animals. T1 was kept as a control, T2 was fed TMR having additional
62.5 g sucrose per kg DM, T3 was fed TMR by adding 3.125 g lacto-vanilla aroma
per kg DM, and T4 was fed TMR with the combination of both sucrose and lactovanilla.
The study revealed that net weight gain and average daily weight gain were
higher (p<0.001) in the taste and aroma-supplemented groups. Significantly higher
dry matter intake (kg/100kg BW; g/kg BW0.75) was observed in T2 and T4 groups,
and DMI in T3 was at par with other groups. At the same time, digestibility and
nitrogen balance were not affected by the taste and aroma supplementation.
Significantly higher (p<0.01) ghrelin concentration in blood plasma was observed
at 0 hr before and 4 hr after feeding, whereas leptin concentration was increased
(p<0.01) 2 hours after feeding. Glucose, total protein, albumin and globulin level
did not differ significantly among the groups. Creatinine, BUN, AST and ALT level
were found within the normal range and also did not differ significantly among the
groups.