Aim: The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of swine-origin probiotic Pediococcus acidilactici FT28 on growth, nutrient utilization, health status, meat quality and intestinal morphology in growing female pigs. Materials and Methods: Pigs (n=27) were distributed into three groups (3 replicates of 3 each) and supplemented with basal diet either without probiotics (C) or with a probiotic of dairy-based (Lactobacillus acidophilus NCDC-15; TLact) or swine based (P. acidilactici FT28; TPedic). The probiotics were fed as fermented feed at 200 g/pig/day. At the end of the trial, six pigs from each group were selected for metabolism trial and then sacrificed to determine meat quality and intestinal morphology. Results: Supplementation of both probiotics improved growth performance, whereas feed intake, digestibility of CP and N retention were better (p<0.05) in P. acidilactici FT28-fed group. However , the digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), ether extracts (EE), crude fibre and nitrogen free extract did not show any significant effect on probiotic supplementation. The serum A: G ratio, triglyceride, and cholesterol level were also improved (p<0.05) in TPedic group compared to other treatment groups. Both probiotic supplementations showed lower (p<0.05) serum glucose level with similar protein and albumin value, which indicated good utilization of feed as well as health status of growing pigs. Dressing percentage, vital organ weight, and EE of loin meat were higher (p<0.05) in probiotic-supplemented groups compared to control. However, P. acidilactici FT28-fed animals showed higher (p<0.05) CP and total ash percentage of meat without affecting pH, water holding capacity, and extract release volume of loin muscle. The villi height and crypt depth were better in both supplemented groups compared to control. Conclusion: Results of the present study revealed that P. acidilactici FT28 could serve as better probiotic source in swine production for the better utilization of CP and N-retention in meat with improved health status and intestinal morphology.

Aim: An experiment was conducted to evaluate the nutritional, physicochemical, microbiological, and sensory attributes of pork sausages treated with conventional smoking (CS) and liquid smoke (LS). Materials and Methods: Pork sausages were prepared by employing CS (T1) and by addition of LS at 3% (T2A), 5% (T2B), and 7% (T2C) while smoking was not done in control (C) sausages. The ready-to-eat pork sausages were evaluated in terms of proximate composition, emulsion stability (ES), cooking loss (CL), pH, water activity (aw), texture profile analysis (TPA), and shear force on the day of preparation and the shelf life of the sausages was evaluated on the basis of thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) value, organoleptic qualities, total viable plate count, total psychrophilic count, and yeast and mold counts at 5-day interval up to 15 days under refrigerated storage (6±1°C). Results: The mean percentage moisture and percentage ether extract contents of the conventionally smoked sausages (T1) exhibited significant difference (p≤0.01) with the rest of the formulations. However, in terms of mean percentage crude protein and percentage total solids, no significant difference (p≥0.05) was recorded between the treatment groups. The mean ES (ml of oil/100 g emulsion) of the different sausage emulsions ranged from 1.88 to 3.20, while the mean aw values among the sausage formulations were found to be non-significant. In terms of mean percentage, CL and pH values, significantly lowest (p≤0.01) values were recorded by the T1 sausages. The mean TBARS values recorded at different periods of time in respect of all the treatment groups ranged from 0.10 to 0.33 mg malanoldehyde [MDA]/kg of sausages which are well within the permissible limit. The highest shear force values (KgF) were recorded by the sausages of T1 formulation (p≤0.01), while TPA of the sausages did not record any significant difference (p≥0.05) among the treatments. Organoleptic studies revealed acceptability of the sausages up to 10 days of refrigerated storage irrespective of treatments employed; however, the sausages of T1 formulation scored significantly (p≤0.01) higher panel ratings. Microbiologically, sausages with different formulations were found to be within the acceptable limit up to the 15th day of refrigerated storage. Conclusion: The study revealed that traditional hot smoking has slightly higher edges over the LS-treated sausages in terms of lipid oxidation, microbiological safety, and sensory panel ratings. However, if not superior, the same was found to be well within the acceptable limit in case of LS-treated sausages proving the potentiality of the use of LS as a suitable replacement for the traditional hazardous hot smoking process.

Theileriosis, an important tick-borne hemoprotozoan disease that can reduce production and productivity, results in severe economic loss in goat industry. Due to lack of facilities and interest of the researchers the sub-clinical form of theileriosis caused by Theileria luwenshuni was under diagnosed in Assam, India. Therefore, a study was carried out to determine the prevalence of theileriosis in goats from Kamrup (Metro) district of Assam. A total of 454 blood samples collected from goats revealed 39.87 % (181/454) infection with Theileria sp. The genomic DNA extracted from blood samples amplified for a fragment of 18S ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) gene employing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using Theileria genus specific primers showed distinct bands at 1098 bp in agarose gel. The resultant PCR products were sequenced and BLAST analysis indicated 99.9% homology with T. luwenshuni. Parasitological methods and PCR technique followed by sequence analysis suggest infection with T. luwenshuni was associated with theileriosis in investigated goats. The results of the present study showed PCR to be more efficient in detection of Theileria positive cases than the microscopic method. Abbreviations: rRNA: Ribosomal ribonucleic acid; PCR: polymerase chain reaction; ml: milliliter; EDTA: Ethylene Diammine Tetraacetic Acid; °C: degree Celsius; DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid; ME: microscopic examination; sp.: species; V-volt; µg: micro gram; TAE: Tris-acetate-EDTA; F: forward; R: reverse; NCBI: National Center for Biotechnology Information; BLAST-n Basic Local Alignment Search Tool for nucleotide.