This study aimed to investigate the impact of dietary supplementation with Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MOLP) on the growth performance, digestive enzyme activity, meat quality, and cecum microbiota of Ningdu yellow chickens. A total of 300 78-day-old Ningdu yellow chickens with similar initial body weights were randomly distributed into five treatments consisting of six replicates of 10 birds. The control group (M0) was fed a basal diet, and the experimental groups were fed diets supplemented with 0.5% (M0.5), 1% (M1), 2% (M2), and 4% (M4) of MOLP, respectively. Our results showed that dietary supplementation with 2% MOLP significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the feed to gain (F/G) and showed a quadratic (p < 0.05) decrease with the level of MOLP. Dietary supplementation with 1~4% MOLP resulted in a significant increase (p < 0.05) in serum total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC). Furthermore, both serum T-SOD and T-AOC exhibited linear and quadratic increases (p < 0.01) in response to the supplementation with MOLP in the diets. Dietary supplementation with 1~4% MOLP significantly (p < 0.05) decreased serum uric acid (UA) level. Additionally, 4% MOLP significantly (p < 0.05) decreased triglycerides (TG), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, and showed linear and quadratic effects. The activity of lipase in the duodenum showed a linear decreasing trend (p < 0.05) with the level of MOLP, while the activities of α-amylase (both in duodenum and jejunum) showed a linear and quadratic increasing trend (p < 0.05). In addition, there was a linear decrease response in abdominal fat (p < 0.05) to MOLP supplementation levels in the diets. In terms of meat quality, dietary supplementation with 4% MOLP significantly reduced (p < 0.05) the L*45 min and L*24 h values of the breast muscle, and drip loss had a linear decreasing trend (p < 0.05). In terms of cecum microbiota, dietary supplementation with 1~4% MOLP significantly increased the Bacteroidota abundance but decreased the Firmicutes abundance (p < 0.05). Overall, dietary supplementation with MOLP improved the growth performance and meat quality of Ningdu yellow chickens through improving the antioxidant function, intestinal digestive enzyme activity, and the cecal microbial structure. The optimum level of MOLP in the diet of Nindu yellow chicken is recommended to be 2.59%.

In order to cope with the limited supply of feed for global animal production, there is a pressing need to explore alternative feed resources. Orange pulp, a by-product of agriculture and industry, has shown potential to positively or neutrally impact pig productive performance when included in their diet. However, there is a lack of research on the effects of fermented navel orange pulp (FNOP) on pig growth and productive performance. This study aimed to investigate the effects of FNOP as a dry matter substitute on pig’s growth performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality, meat nutritional value, and serum biochemical indicators. The experiment involved 128 finishing Tibetan pigs, divided into four feed treatment groups, with varying levels (0%, 5%, 10% and 15%) of FNOP replacing dry matter in the basal diet. The results indicate that substituting 5% to 15% FNOP had no adverse effects on pig growth performance. However, at a 15% substitution rate, there was a decrease in serum growth hormone and IGF-1 levels, along with an increase in the feed-to-gain ratio. A 10% FNOP replacement notably increased the loin-eye muscle area of pigs. Additionally, 5% and 10% FNOP substitutions reduced the drip loss of pork. The study also found that substituting 5% to 15% FNOP increased unsaturated fatty acids and umami nucleotide contents in pork and raised serum total protein and uric acid (nucleotide-metabolism-related product) levels. These findings suggest that moderate FNOP substitution might improve meat quality, nutritional value, and maintain growth and productive performance in Tibetan pigs by improving protein synthesis and nucleotide metabolism, while also reducing feed costs. The optimal substitution ratio identified was 10%.

Oxidative stress poses a significant challenge in livestock production, impairing intestinal function, nutrient absorption, and overall animal performance. Uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) is a mitochondrial regulator known for its protective effects against oxidative damage, but its specific function in porcine intestinal epithelial cells and its regulation by genipin—a natural UCP2 inhibitor with potential therapeutic properties—remains unclear. In this study, we cloned and overexpressed the porcine UCP2 gene in intestinal porcine epithelial cells (IPEC-J2), generating a stable UCP2-overexpressing cell line (IPEC-J2-UCP2). Under hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress, UCP2 overexpression significantly improved cell viability, reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD, GPx, and CAT). Additionally, UCP2 upregulated the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2 and downregulated pro-apoptotic genes (Fas, Caspase-3, and Bax), indicating a protective role against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis. We also investigated the regulatory effects of genipin on UCP2. Under non-stress conditions, genipin mildly promoted anti-apoptotic gene expression. However, under oxidative stress, genipin strongly inhibited UCP2 expression, exacerbated ROS accumulation, reduced cell viability, and increased expression of pro-apoptotic markers, particularly Caspase-3 and Bax. These findings reveal that UCP2 plays a critical role in protecting porcine intestinal epithelial cells from oxidative injury and that genipin exerts context-dependent effects on cell fate by modulating UCP2. This study provides a mechanistic basis for targeting UCP2 to manage oxidative stress and improve intestinal health and performance in pigs.

This study explored the efficacy of dietary Fagopyrum dibotrys extract (FDE) in mitigating Escherichia coli O157 (E. coli) infections in broilers. A total of 240 one-day-old male Shengze 901 broilers were randomly allocated to four groups (with 10 broilers per group): CON (basal diet), COLI (basal diet + E. coli challenge), FDE (basal diet + 500 mg/kg FDE), and FDEC (basal diet + 500 mg/kg FDE + E. coli challenge). The results showed that E. coli challenge reduced the average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI), increased the feed conversion ratio (FCR) and cecal E. coli load, impaired the intestinal mucosa, and induced intestinal inflammatory responses (p < 0.05). FDE supplementation improved growth performance, increased duodenal villus height and villus/crypt ratio; reduced serum interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), diamine oxidase (DAO), and endotoxin levels; and lowered cecal E. coli counts (p < 0.05). Molecularly, FDE supplementation upregulated Occludin, Claudin-1, and ZO-1 gene expressions, and downregulated jejunal TLR4 and MyD88 mRNA levels. Microbiome analysis revealed that FDE increased the relative abundance of Faecalibacterium and alleviated the E. coli-induced reduction in Clostridia_UCG-014. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with 500 mg/kg FDE could mitigate colibacillosis-related intestinal damage and inflammatory responses.

The rhizoma of Fagopyrum dibotrys (D. Don) Hara, a traditional natural medicinal herb with extensive historical applications in China, pos s e s s anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory and antidiabetic effects. However, the potential positive effects of Fagopyrum dibotrys rhizoma meal (FDRM) on productive performance in high-density laying duck farming remain unclear. This experiment was conducted to assess the impacts of FDRM supplementation in Shanma laying ducks diet by determining productive performance, egg quality, egg nutritional value and serum biochemical parameters. With similar laying performance ( 80.88 ± 5.17 % ) and body weight (1.24 ± 0.02 kg) , 512 healthy 32-week-old Shanma laying ducks were randomly assigned to 4 groups consisting of 8 replicates (16 ducks per replicate). Ducks in the control group (F0 group) were fed only the basal diet, while the other groups (F1, F2 and F3 groups) were fed the basal diets supplemented with 1%, 2% and 3% FDRM, respectively. The experiment lasted for 49 days with ad libitum access to feed and water. Our results showed that supplementing FDRM in duck diet had no adverse effects on laying performance (P>0.05). Additionally, compared with the control group, d iet ary supplementation with FDRM significantly improved the shell strength, yolk color and shell proportion (P<0.05), while increasing the serum total protein (TP) content (P<0.05). The study also found that adding 2%. FDRM significantly enhanced the contents of total amino acids, essential amino acids and umami amino acids in eggs (P<0.05), improved the composition of monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids (P<0.05), and reducing the saturated fatty acids content. However, 3% FDRM addition increased the serum blood urea nitrogen content (P<0.05), indicating reduced the dietary protein utilization efficiency. Overall, dietary supplementation with 2% FDRM might improved egg quality and egg nutritional value of Shanma laying ducks through improving the shell strength, yolk color and shell proportion, enhancing yolk fatty acid and amino acid profiles and e levating serum TP content.