Influence of grain supplements during winter on liveweight, mohair growth and mohair quality of weaner Angora goats

To identify methods to improve growth and mohair production of weaned Angora goats (mean liveweight 18-20 kg) during their first winter, two supplementary feeding experiments using whole-grain barley and lupins were conducted on a farm in southern New South Wales, in a region where weaner illthrift had been reported. Experiment 1 was a 2×2 + 1 factorial with 16 replicate goats; two feeding levels (115 or 230 g/day of whole-barley grain)× two periods of feeding (4 or 8 weeks) + Control (grazing only). Experiment 2 had five treatments × 13 replicate goats; three treatments fed 230 g/day of whole-barley grain for periods of 2 or 3 months and two treatments fed a 50:50 mixture of lupin and barley grain at 350 g/day for 2 or 4 months. Goats were individually fed and then all returned together for grazing. There were no effects of feeding in Experiment 1 and variations of feeding 230 g/day of barley in Experiment 2 provided no benefit. Feeding lupin/barley for 4 months increased liveweight (gain 59 g/day), mohair production, mohair fibre diameter and the incidence of medullated fibre. About 25% of this ration was not eaten by eight goats, reducing treatment average intake to 295 g/day. By the end of spring, there was no difference in treatment liveweights. Regression constants indicated that for each 1 μm increase in mean fibre diameter, greasy fleece weight increased 35 g and for each 1 kg increase in pre-shearing liveweight, greasy fleece weight increased 26 g. The results show that Angora weaner goats can grow during winter, provided their energy and protein needs for growth are met. Improved pasture management and higher levels of supplementary feeding to weaned Angoras are indicated compared with current practices on farms in Australia.

An index of diet and eating patterns is a valid measure of diet quality in an Australian population

Diet indices represent an integrated approach to assessing eating patterns and behaviors. The aim of this study was to develop a comprehensive food-based dietary index to reflect adherence to healthy eating recommendations, evaluate the construct validity of the index using nutrient intakes, and evaluate this index in relation to sociodemographic factors, health behaviors, risk factors, and self-assessed health status. Data were analyzed from adult participants of the Australian National Nutrition Survey who completed a 108-item FFQ and a food habits questionnaire (n = 8220). The dietary guideline index (DGI) consisted of 15 items reflecting the dietary guidelines, including dietary indicators of vegetables and legumes, fruit, total cereals, meat and alternatives, total dairy, beverages, sodium, saturated fat, alcoholic beverages, and added sugars. Diet quality was incorporated using indicators relating to whole-grain cereals, lean meat, reduced/low fat dairy, and dietary variety. We investigated associations between the DGI score, sociodemographic factors, health behaviors, chronic disease risk factors, and nutrient intakes. We found associations between the DGI scores and sex, age, income, area-level socioeconomic disadvantage, smoking, physical activity, waist:hip ratio, systolic blood pressure (males only), and self-assessed health status (females only) (all P < 0.05). Higher DGI scores were associated with lower intakes of energy, total fat, and saturated fat and higher intakes of fiber, β-carotene, vitamin C, folate, calcium, and iron (P < 0.05). This food-based dietary index is able to discriminate across a variety of sociodemographic factors, health behaviors, and self-assessed health and reflects intakes of key nutrients.

Automatic grain texture analysis using integral transforms

Tonewood for musical instruments is quarter-sawn and frequently quality-graded based on visual appearance, mechanical and acoustic properties. The assessment uses simple human (subjective) observation, and two ‘‘experts’’ can rate the same sample differently. This paper describes the application of integral transforms (Fourier and Radon) for automatic (objective) assessment of the visual appearance of 10 Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) sample images. This work considers surface classification on the basis of grain orientation, count, spacing, and evenness or uniformity.

Grain excretion by goats fed whole or processed cereals with various roughages

Despite cereal grains being grown on 5 continents where goats are kept, there is little information on the excretion of whole cereal grains when fed to goats. We determined the effects of various dietary treatments on whole grain and starch loss in the faeces of Angora goats. In Experiment 1 there were 4 replicates of the factorial design: (a) 2 grain types (barley, oats); (b) whole grain or processing (milled barley or rolled oats); (c) 2 roughage qualities (Persian clover hay, barley straw); and (d) 2 feeding levels (level 1, 150 g/d of grain, 250 g/d of roughage; level 2, 250 g/d of grain, ad libitum roughage). In Experiment 2, which immediately followed Experiment 1, and aimed to detect carry over effects of previous feeding of barley straw and grain processing, feed levels were either 650 g/d grain or 400 g/d grain with 550 g/d Persian clover hay. Data were analysed by ANOVA. In Experiment 1, processing had no effect on digestible dry matter intake. The number of whole grains lost per 100 g of fresh faeces and whole grains loss as the % of grain dry matter intake were affected by an interaction between processing and roughage quality. Whole grain fed with Persian clover hay had greater grain loss than all other diets. Whole grain loss was greater with whole grain than with processed grain. Level of feeding had no effects on grain loss. In Experiment 2, more whole grains were lost in fresh faeces when fed with Persian clover hay than when fed without hay, an effect of previous feeding with barley straw reduced whole grain excretion, and more barley grains were lost than oat grain. Faecal starch was affected, with higher levels when whole barley grain was fed, particularly with Persian clover hay, or when previously fed barley straw at a high level. Feeding grain at 650 g/d did not increase grain or starch excretion. Whole grains represented a small loss of grain dry matter intake in faeces, averaging 0.8% with a maximum recorded of 2.6%. Faecal concentration of the whole grains may be altered by grain size and the digestibility of the roughage component of the diet. In this study an additional cost of 3% for processing grains would not have provided economic benefits.

Effect of sorghum flour addition on in vitro starch digestibility, cooking quality and consumer acceptability of durum wheat pasta

Whole grain sorghum is a valuable source of resistant starch and polyphenolic antioxidants and its addition into staple food like pasta may reduce the starch digestibility. However, incorporating nondurum wheat materials into pasta provides a challenge in terms of maintaining cooking quality and consumer acceptability. Pasta was prepared from 100% durum wheat semolina (DWS) as control or by replacing DWS with either wholegrain red sorghum flour (RSF) or white sorghum flour (WSF) each at 20%, 30%, and 40% incorporation levels, following a laboratory-scale procedure. Pasta samples were evaluated for proximate composition, in vitro starch digestibility, cooking quality, and consumer acceptability. The addition of both RSF and WSF lowered the extent of in vitro starch digestion at all substitution levels compared to the control pasta. The rapidly digestible starch was lowered in all the sorghum-containing pastas compared to the control pasta. Neither RSF or WSF addition affected the pasta quality attributes (water absorption, swelling index, dry matter, adhesiveness, cohesiveness, and springiness), except color and hardness which were negatively affected. Consumer sensory results indicated that pasta samples containing 20% and 30% RSF or WSF had acceptable palatability based on meeting one or both of the preset acceptability criteria. It is concluded that the addition of wholegrain sorghum flour to pasta at 30% incorporation level is possible to reduce starch digestibility, while maintaining adequate cooking quality and consumer acceptability.