1. Inclusion of cocoa bran in the diet of lambs and its effect on reproductive parameters.
- Author
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Pinheiro EEG, Bagaldo AR, Lents MP, Dos Santos Lima MV, Mugabe LC, de Sousa MB, Santana ALA, de Araújo FL, and Barbosa LP
- Subjects
- Animals, Male, Cacao chemistry, Reproduction, Semen physiology, Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Random Allocation, Sheep physiology, Animal Feed analysis, Diet veterinary, Testis anatomy & histology, Sheep, Domestic physiology, Testosterone blood, Cholesterol blood, Cholesterol analysis
- Abstract
The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of cocoa bran in the diet of lambs and its effect on reproductive parameters. For this, 40 lambs were randomly assigned to four treatments, and including 0, 10, 20 and 30% levels of cocoa bran in the concentrate. Blood was collected to measure cholesterol and testosterone and semen for physical and morphological evaluation; testicular biometry and morphometry were also evaluated. There was significant difference (P < 0.05) in body weight and tubulosomatic index between the lambs in the control treatment and those in the 30% cocoa bran treatment. There was no difference in testicular biometry, physical and morphological parameters of fresh semen, testicular morphometry, and volumetric ratio between lambs in all the treatments (P < 0.05). In addition, there was no difference in plasma cholesterol or testosterone concentration (P > 0.05). Thus, it is possible to include up to 30% of cocoa bran in diet without affecting the reproductive parameters of lambs., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)
- Published
- 2024
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