Cargando…

Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Spirulina platensis on the Reproductive Performance of Female Mink

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Profitability of mink farming depends mainly on the reproductive performance of female animals. Many dietary practices applied previously, to improve health and productivity of mink. Spirulina platensis is a natural dietary supplement, widely used both for human and animal consumptio...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Iatrou, Anna Maria, Papadopoulos, Georgios A., Giannenas, Ilias, Lymberopoulos, Aristotelis, Fortomaris, Paschalis
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9415728/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36006343
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vetsci9080428
_version_ 1784776302795948032
author Iatrou, Anna Maria
Papadopoulos, Georgios A.
Giannenas, Ilias
Lymberopoulos, Aristotelis
Fortomaris, Paschalis
author_facet Iatrou, Anna Maria
Papadopoulos, Georgios A.
Giannenas, Ilias
Lymberopoulos, Aristotelis
Fortomaris, Paschalis
author_sort Iatrou, Anna Maria
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: Profitability of mink farming depends mainly on the reproductive performance of female animals. Many dietary practices applied previously, to improve health and productivity of mink. Spirulina platensis is a natural dietary supplement, widely used both for human and animal consumption. In previous studies, in many animal species, Spirulina platensis supplementation improved reproductive characteristics. To our knowledge, inclusion of Spirulina in a mink’s diet has not yet been adequately studied. To address this dearth of knowledge, we investigated the effect of dietary inclusion of Spirulina platensis on the reproductive performance of female mink from pre-mating season until kit weaning. A tendency for a higher whelping rate was detected in Spirulina platensis treated animals, while a significant increase in their body weight during pre-mating season was observed. Finally, Spirulina platensis treated animals lost significantly more body weight during late lactation, but without an adverse effect on their or their kit’s survival. Overall, it can be suggested that Spirulina platensis can be used in female mink diets without adverse effects. However, since in the present study only a single dose was used, further studies are required to investigate the effects of higher levels of supplementation. ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of providing Spirulina platensis (Spirulina) on reproductive performance of female mink. A total of 100 adult brown female mink (Mustela vison) were randomly and equally allocated to control group (C group), in which mink were fed basal diet and Spirulina group (Sp group), where mink received basal diet supplemented with 100 mg of Spirulina/kg of body weight. The experiment lasted 5 months, starting from 1 month prior to mating till kit weaning. Weight gain during pre-mating period was higher in Sp group compared to C group (p < 0.001). Sp group remained heavier until the onset of lactation. Subsequently, mink of Sp group lost more weight than C group (p < 0.001) but without an adverse effect on kit survival. A tendency for a higher whelping rate was detected in Sp group (93.61%) compared to C group (81.25%) (p = 0.07). Litter size, as well as weight of kits at weaning, did not differ between groups (p > 0.10). Finally, Sp group weaned numerically more kits compared to C group. Results obtained here showed that Spirulina treated animals tended to an increased whelping rate.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9415728
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-94157282022-08-27 Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Spirulina platensis on the Reproductive Performance of Female Mink Iatrou, Anna Maria Papadopoulos, Georgios A. Giannenas, Ilias Lymberopoulos, Aristotelis Fortomaris, Paschalis Vet Sci Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: Profitability of mink farming depends mainly on the reproductive performance of female animals. Many dietary practices applied previously, to improve health and productivity of mink. Spirulina platensis is a natural dietary supplement, widely used both for human and animal consumption. In previous studies, in many animal species, Spirulina platensis supplementation improved reproductive characteristics. To our knowledge, inclusion of Spirulina in a mink’s diet has not yet been adequately studied. To address this dearth of knowledge, we investigated the effect of dietary inclusion of Spirulina platensis on the reproductive performance of female mink from pre-mating season until kit weaning. A tendency for a higher whelping rate was detected in Spirulina platensis treated animals, while a significant increase in their body weight during pre-mating season was observed. Finally, Spirulina platensis treated animals lost significantly more body weight during late lactation, but without an adverse effect on their or their kit’s survival. Overall, it can be suggested that Spirulina platensis can be used in female mink diets without adverse effects. However, since in the present study only a single dose was used, further studies are required to investigate the effects of higher levels of supplementation. ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of providing Spirulina platensis (Spirulina) on reproductive performance of female mink. A total of 100 adult brown female mink (Mustela vison) were randomly and equally allocated to control group (C group), in which mink were fed basal diet and Spirulina group (Sp group), where mink received basal diet supplemented with 100 mg of Spirulina/kg of body weight. The experiment lasted 5 months, starting from 1 month prior to mating till kit weaning. Weight gain during pre-mating period was higher in Sp group compared to C group (p < 0.001). Sp group remained heavier until the onset of lactation. Subsequently, mink of Sp group lost more weight than C group (p < 0.001) but without an adverse effect on kit survival. A tendency for a higher whelping rate was detected in Sp group (93.61%) compared to C group (81.25%) (p = 0.07). Litter size, as well as weight of kits at weaning, did not differ between groups (p > 0.10). Finally, Sp group weaned numerically more kits compared to C group. Results obtained here showed that Spirulina treated animals tended to an increased whelping rate. MDPI 2022-08-12 /pmc/articles/PMC9415728/ /pubmed/36006343 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vetsci9080428 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Iatrou, Anna Maria
Papadopoulos, Georgios A.
Giannenas, Ilias
Lymberopoulos, Aristotelis
Fortomaris, Paschalis
Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Spirulina platensis on the Reproductive Performance of Female Mink
title Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Spirulina platensis on the Reproductive Performance of Female Mink
title_full Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Spirulina platensis on the Reproductive Performance of Female Mink
title_fullStr Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Spirulina platensis on the Reproductive Performance of Female Mink
title_full_unstemmed Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Spirulina platensis on the Reproductive Performance of Female Mink
title_short Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Spirulina platensis on the Reproductive Performance of Female Mink
title_sort effects of dietary inclusion of spirulina platensis on the reproductive performance of female mink
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9415728/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36006343
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vetsci9080428
work_keys_str_mv AT iatrouannamaria effectsofdietaryinclusionofspirulinaplatensisonthereproductiveperformanceoffemalemink
AT papadopoulosgeorgiosa effectsofdietaryinclusionofspirulinaplatensisonthereproductiveperformanceoffemalemink
AT giannenasilias effectsofdietaryinclusionofspirulinaplatensisonthereproductiveperformanceoffemalemink
AT lymberopoulosaristotelis effectsofdietaryinclusionofspirulinaplatensisonthereproductiveperformanceoffemalemink
AT fortomarispaschalis effectsofdietaryinclusionofspirulinaplatensisonthereproductiveperformanceoffemalemink