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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...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2022
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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 |
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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 |
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