Effetti di differenti fonti fibrose nella dieta di asine sul contenuto di leptina e dei principali costituenti del latte

Aiming to investigate the effects of different fiber sources (wheat bran or dehydrated beet pulp) in concentrate for dairy asses on milk production and compositional characteristics, sixteen pluriparous asses were divided into two groups fed two isoenergetic and isonitrogenous concentrates, including either wheat bran (group A) or dehydrated beet pulp (group B). During the experimental period (84 d), asses were daily fed 8 kg coarse hay and 2.5 kg mixed feed (A or B); experimental observations were carried out every 21 days. Asses were machine milked twice within 24 hours (h. 17:00 and h. 11:00 of the following day). Asses’s body condition score, always within a 3.0 – 3.25 range, did not differ between the two groups. The investigated fiber sources did not affect milk yield (A: 1268.2 ± 77.6 mL·d-1; B: 1469.2 ± 77.6 mL·d-1) nor significant effects were observed on protein (A: 1.52 ± 0.02 g·100 g-1 milk; B: 1.52 ± 0.02 g·100 g-1 milk) or fat (A: 0.30 ± 0.07 g·100 g-1 milk; B: 0.29 ± 0.08 g·100 g-1 milk) content. Skimmed milk leptin content was unaffected by the dietary treatment (A: 3.46 ± 0.11 ng·mL-1 milk; B: 3.16 ± 0.12 ng·mL-1 milk).