Enhancing Milk Production and Quality in Cattle Through Spirulina-Based Feed Supplementation

Introduction

Spirulina platensis is a blue-green (length: 50-500 µm, width: 3-4 µm) multicellular (prokaryotic) microalgae belonging to the phylum Cyanobacteria. Taxonomically, "Spirulina" mainly describes two species of cyanobacteria, Arthrospira platensis and Arthrospira maxima. People who live close to the alkaline lakes where spirulina is naturally found have long utilised it as a nutritional supplement. Up to the 16 th century, the Aztecs and other Mesoamericans in Mexico consumed it as food. One of Hernan Cort´es' soldiers recounted the harvest of algae at lake Texcoco and the selling ascakes called "tecuitlatl". The Kanembu ethnic group has utilized it and continues to use it as food in the Lake Chad region of the Republic of Chad, where it is sold as dried bread known as "dihe." A European research mission uncovered this traditional cuisine in Chad, and it is now extensively consumed around the globe and has grown in popularity in the human health food sector. It is gathered from natural water in many African nations, dried, and consumed as a significant source of protein, and it is also utilised as a protein supplement and health food in many Asian nations. Spirulina has been employed as an additional dietary component of fish, shrimp, and poultry feed as well as an increasingly popular source of protein and vitamins for aquafeeds (Holman and Malau-Aduli, 2012) [1] . Therefore, for future profitability and sustainable animal production, it is essential to identify new feed resources. The new feed resource should, in theory, have a high nutritional value and conversion efficiency, be capable of optimizing the quality of animal products and make efficient use of both land and water. The major goals of this work were to review the nutrient makeup of spirulina, and incorporate the impact of dietary spirulina supplementation on the well-being and output of animals (Grahl et. al., 2020) [2] .

Materials and Methods

Pure culture of Spirulina was purchased from Krishi Vidnyan Kendra in Babhaleshwar, and it was multiplied on the medium made by Zarruk. 40 skewers of pure inoculum were used to produce 1 liter of stock inoculum, which was then multiplied on liquid medium while maintained on a solid slant. Purified cultures are transferred under aseptic conditions to ensure purity (Rosenau et. al., 2022) [3] .

Bulk Production: The root culture of spirulina was developed at Padmashri Vikhe Patil College, Pravaranagar. The cultivation of spirulina will be carried out in beds 60 cm high, 1 meter wide and 3 meters long. To stir up pond culture, a water wheel with a manual or electric motor is installed.

Nutrients Amount Sodium bicarbonate: 10 gm/lit. of water Suphala fertilizer (15:15:15 N:P:K): 1gm/lit. of water Magnesium Suphate: 0.2gm/lit, of water The culture medium was stirred six to eight times per day for one hour each. When the optical density of the inoculum reached 0.8 to 0.9 after 10 to 12 days, it was found that it had reached its maximum potential. After being diluted with water and nutrients, the culture depth was not attained (18-20 cm) for another 10-12 days (Ragaza et. al., 2020) [5] .

Harvesting: Harvesting of biomass was started after the culture medium reached maximum growth (optical density 0.8-0.9). Harvest 2-3 days apart by simple gravity filtration. The harvested culture was filtered through a 350-mesh fine woven synthetic cloth. Before filtration, the culture was passed into a 200-micron sieve to remove any foreign impurities such as insects, larvae, leaves, etc (Rosenau et. al., 2022) [3] .

Drying: The cleaned seaweed slurry was spread on a polythene sheet and dried for three to four hours in a hot air oven at 45 to 52 o C. Dried spirulina flakes were made into powder, then used for direct feeding (Rosenau et. al., 2022) [3] .

Consumption of spirulina:

The dry powder was mixed into the feed at different concentrations and fed to the animals. Prepared treatments are T1, T2, T3, T4, T5.

Results and Discussion

Trials of spirulina with dairy cows have shown successful results with a clear impact on production. To increase the quantity and quality of milk produced by lactating animals, the daily diet was supplemented with 5, 10, 15 and 20 g of spirulina. According to this study, feeding dairy cows with 20 grams of spirulina increased milk production by 2.72 liters compared to the control group. In addition, the fat percentage increased by 1.3% in the T5 treatment compared to the control (Jense, A., 1978) [4] .

Conclusion

Therefore, the study concluded that the consumption of spirulina for cattle in their daily diet Enhancing milk quality and quantity.

References

1. Holman BW, Malau-Aduli AEO. Spirulina as a livestock supplement and animal feed. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition. 2012;97:615623.
2. Grahl S, Strack M, Mensching A, Mörlein D. Alternative protein sources in Western diets: Food product development and consumer acceptance of Spirulina-filled pasta. Food Quality and Preference. 2020;84:103933.
3. Rosenau S, Ciulu M, Reimer C, Mott AC, Tetens J, Mörlein D. Feeding green: Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) induced changes in production performance and quality of three salmonid fish species. Aquaculture Research. 2022; under review.
4. Jensen A. Chlorophylls and carotenoids. In: Hellebust JA, Craigie JS, editors. Handbook of physiological methods: physiological and biochemical methods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1978. p. 5970.
5. Ragaza JA, Hossain MS, Meiler KA, Velasquez SF, Kumar V. A review on Spirulina: Alternative media for cultivation and nutritive value as an aquafeed. Reviews in Aquaculture. 2020;12:2371-2395.