Author: Praveen Sivakumara Banakar, Sachin Kumar, V V Vinay, Sonam Dixit, Nitin Tyagi, Amrish Tyagi
effects of supplementing aloe vera extract on rumen fermentation efficiency, nutrient utilization, lactation performance and antioxidant status of goats, feed aqueous extract of aloe vera at 20 and 40 g/kg dry matter intake, respectively, along with basal diet and experiment lasted for 100 days, milk production, yield of milk fat, protein, lactose and solids not fat (SNF) of goats in the Aloe vera group was significantly higher, activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase and levels of plasma ferric reducing total antioxidant power were high (P < 0.01) in the aloe vera supplemented group, aloe vera supplementation enhanced milk yield, propionic acid production, and antioxidant status without affecting nutrient utilization, inclusion of aloe vera at 40 g/kg of Dry Matter Intake would improve the rumen fermentation efficiency, lactation performance and overall health status of the dairy goats, parturition and lactation period; consequently, compromising their immunity, paradigm shift has driven animal nutritionists to look for safe and natural feed additives to conventional antimicrobials for sustainable animal production, feed additives, livestock industry, natural phytogenic feed additive (PFA), leaves no residue in the animal products, Plant-derived products or the plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) viz essential oils, saponins, condensed tannins, flavonoids, and phenolic compounds, forms the major constituents of PFAs, higher propionate production, increases microbial yield, reduces methanogenesis and enhances productive performance in ruminants, Aloe vera (AV) is one such source of PSMs that comprises the potential properties of natural phytogenic feed additive, Aloe vera is used in ethnoveterinary medicine and has a positive impact on animal health and welfare, potential of Aloe Vera to modulate the animals' rumen fermentation and health status, milk production, yield of milk fat, protein, lactose and solids not fat (SNF) of goats in the aloe vera group was significantly higher, Intake and digestibility of DM, OM, CP, NDF, ADF, and EE was unaffected (P >0.05) by aloe vera supplementation, aloe vera supplementation enhanced milk yield, propionic acid production, and antioxidant status without affecting nutrient utilization; however, results were better in the Aloe vera group, inclusion of aloe vera at 40 g/kg of DMI would improve the rumen fermentation efficiency, lactation performance and overall health status of the dairy goats.
