The most common bee species used for honey production is Apis mellifera (A. mellifera), followed by stingless bees. This study included scientific articles using the PRISMA approach. A random effect model was implemented and the effect size (ES) was calculated and reported as the standardized mean difference (SMD) and raw mean difference (RMD). The mean phenolic content in A. mellifera honey was 61.21 ± 28.3 mg GAE/100 g and stingless bee honey +33.69 mg GAE/100 g; p = 0.01. The antioxidant activity, discovered by the Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) method, showed a mean of 97.34 ± 7.84 μmol Fe(II)/100 g in A. mellifera and stingless bee honey +63.39 μmol Fe(II)/100 g; p = 0.009. The physicochemical properties showed significant differences in moisture (A. mellifera honey 19.54 ± 3.65%; stingless bee honey +8.02%; p = 0.0001), hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) (A. mellifera honey 20.14 ± 16.27 mg/kg; stingless bee honey −11.25 mg/kg; p = 0.001), and free acidity (A. mellifera honey 31.32 ± 16.67 meq/kg; stingless bee honey +34.76 meq/kg; p = 0.01). The variability in the trials was explained by the heterogeneity, and a meta-regression analysis incorporated four covariates: (1) stingless bee species; (2) floral source; (3) country, and (4) latitude. This study highlights the importance of conducting further studies on stingless bee honey.

In dairy sheep, optimum nutrition is required to maintain a positive energy and nitrogen balance, and therefore, achieve adequate performance levels. In this sense, supplemental rumen-protected methionine (RPMet) has been a nutritional strategy used to improve the availability of amino acids in sheep for milk production. The aim of the current study is to assess the effect of RPMet supplementation on the milk yield and milk composition of crossbred dairy sheep. Twenty F1 sheep (50% Pelibuey × 50% East Friesian) were randomly assigned to one of the following three treatments: C (control: 0 g/d), 3 g (3.0 g/d), or 6 g (6 g/d) of RPMet added to the basal diet from day 2 to 120 after lambing. Milk yield was significantly higher in sheep supplemented with 6 g of RPMet (p = 0.04) with a linear effect (p < 0.001). In relation to protein yield, the 6 g treatment showed the highest values (55.5 g/day) in comparison with the control (35.2 g/day) and 3 g (42.3 g/day) treatments. Also, lactose (p = 0.02) and non-fat solid yield (p = 0.03) were positively affected by the methionine supplementation. Our results suggest that methionine supplementation is an option to increase milk production, likely associated with the better availability of nutrients of dairy sheep farms using crossbred sheep in regions with an incipient dairy sheep industry.

Mesquite (Prosopis spp.), a highly nutritious legume from arid regions characterized by its secondary metabolites, offers a cost-effective resource to provide energy and protein for small ruminant farmers in harsh environments. In addition, the high concentrations of secondary metabolites found in mesquite pods could be an option to mitigate methane (CH₄) emissions. Thus, the aim of this study was to conduct an analytical review to assess the impact of adding mesquite pods on small ruminant productivity and enteric CH₄ emissions. A comprehensive and structured search of scientific articles resulted in a database of 38 trials. The response variables were evaluated through raw mean differences (RMDs) and standardized mean differences (SMDs), followed by a meta-regression, used to investigate the heterogeneity of the explanatory variables. Supplementation with mesquite pods significantly increased the dry matter intake (DMI) and average daily gain (ADG) and reduced the feed conversion ratio (FCR), with sheep showing the highest effect. The meta-regression demonstrated that the mesquite pod effect was influenced mainly by the species, level of incorporation and processing of the pods. Studies employing in silico CH₄ estimation reported increased emissions when the diets included mesquite pods. In contrast, in vivo studies demonstrated promising results, showing a significant reduction in CH₄ emissions when mesquite pods were included in small ruminant diets. Therefore, future research should focus on evaluating mesquite pod supplementation using precise methods to assess CH₄ emissions.