Livestock supplement

Abstract

To provide a supplement which causes improved hair sleekness and hastened fatigue recovery in livestock, particularly a horse.SOLUTION: A supplement includes, as an active ingredient, an extract of Ume (Japanese apricot) fruit, for example, desalted Ume vinegar obtained by desalting treatment of Ume vinegar obtained by salting the Ume fruit obtained in a production process of a pickled Ume. Feeding the obtained supplement together with fodder to a horse can cause improved hair sleekness and hastened fatigue recovery and appetite increase and an intestine-regulating effect such as improvement in horse dung smell, etc.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for improving the coat of livestock, particularly mammalian livestock such as horses and pigs, promoting recovery from fatigue, and contributing to intestinal regulation. [Background technology]

[0002] It is known that plum extracts have various physiological activities. It is also known that plum vinegar obtained during the production of pickled plums has various physiological activities. For example, it has been reported that feeding plum vinegar to fish prevents the onset of diseases such as Edwardsiella (Patent Document 1), administering it to dogs and cats improves the odor of feces, urine, and body odor (Patent Document 2), and adding it to feed for farmed fish maintains their freshness and enhances their umami (Patent Document 3).

[0003] Under these circumstances, it was found that when plum extract was administered to horses, it improved the coat's shine, reduced the odor of horse manure, accelerated recovery from fatigue, and also had an intestinal regulating effect, without reducing feeding habits. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-090106 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2005-278404 A [Patent Document 3] JP 2008-206501 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The present invention aims to provide a new use of plum extract such as plum vinegar. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention relates to a method for giving a plum extract to so-called livestock such as horses in order to improve the coat gloss of the livestock such as horses and promote recovery from fatigue. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to hasten the improvement of the lustre of the coat of livestock, particularly horses, and to achieve intestinal regulation effects such as promoting appetite and recovery from fatigue, and improving the odor of excreta and urine. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a graph showing changes in body weight when plum extract was given to horses. [Diagram 2] Figure 2 is a graph showing the change in coat gloss when plum extract was given to horses. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a graph showing the change in the number of bacteria (vertical axis: relative abundance) of the intestinal bacteria Kiritimatiella genus when plum extract was given to horses. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a graph showing the change in the number of Enterobacteriaceae bacteria (horizontal axis: bacterial occupancy rate) when plum extract was given to horses. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] The supplement for improving the coat of livestock according to the present invention contains plum extract as an active ingredient. In the present invention, livestock is not used in a broad sense including poultry, but in a narrow sense as livestock animals such as horses, cows, and pigs. Among livestock, the present invention is preferably aimed at horses, and more specifically racehorses. The coat of livestock in the narrow sense is a barometer for observing their nutritional and health conditions, and the quality of their nutritional and health conditions is directly reflected in their coat. In particular, for racehorses, especially for breeding horses in the process of being raised to be racehorses, it is said that improving coat quality is related to the success or failure of subsequent breeding, and it is no exaggeration to say that the quality of coat quality determines whether a racehorse wins or loses.

[0010] The ume extract in the present invention may be an extract obtained from ume fruits using various extraction solvents such as water or ethanol, or it may be ume vinegar, a by-product obtained during the manufacture of umeboshi, i.e., an infusion obtained by salting ume fruits or a concentrate thereof. The ume fruits may be edible ume fruits such as Nanko, Shirakaga, and Bungo, as well as inedible ume fruits. From the viewpoint of effective use of by-products, ume vinegar is preferred. Ume vinegar has a high salt concentration and may be harmful if administered to livestock as is, so it is preferable to feed it after desalting. The desalting method is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a method using a dialysis membrane or a method using an electrodialysis device (for example, JP-A-2000-300205). The desalted ume vinegar may be used as is, but considering the method and amount to be fed to livestock, a concentrated one is preferable, and the pH is also preferably adjusted to about 3 to 7. The concentration method is also not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a method of heating under normal pressure or reduced pressure. In addition, it may be freeze-dried into a powder form. Examples of desalted plum vinegar that can be used in the present invention include the plum vinegars disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Documents 1 to 3. Of course, plum vinegars other than those described in these patent documents, desalted plum vinegars, and plum extracts can also be used.

[0011] The supplement according to the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is in a form that can be given to livestock, and the concentrated desalted plum vinegar or plum extract may be provided as a supplement as is. It may also be mixed with various nutrients such as vitamins, or with so-called excipients such as water or starch, and processed into a form that can be ingested by livestock, such as liquid, tablet, or powder, or it may be mixed with livestock feed such as fodder to form a feed.

[0012] By administering the supplement of the present invention, not only is the coat shininess improved in a shorter time than when it is not administered, but the horse's health (fatigue) is improved after running, leading to an increase in appetite. In addition, the number of bacteria of the genus Kiritimatiella, which is a type of bacteria that forms the intestinal flora, tends to increase, and as a result, it is expected to have an intestinal regulating effect such as reducing the odor of horse manure and preventing and treating diarrhea.

[0013] The dosage of the supplement according to the present invention can be appropriately determined depending on the type and weight of the livestock to which it is given, the purpose of administration, etc., but for a horse weighing about 500 kg, the daily dosage is 10 g to 300 g in the case of desalted concentrated plum vinegar. If the supplement is concentrated plum vinegar, it can usually be administered to livestock as is, but from the viewpoint of administration method, it is convenient to mix it with feeding water or feed. EXAMPLES

[0014] Plum extract (Kishu Hosokawa Feed Co., Ltd.'s "Vitav") obtained by desalting and concentrating plum vinegar obtained during the manufacture of pickled plums was given to thoroughbred racehorses. 83 horses (44 males and 39 females) were divided into three groups: a group administered 200 g / day of desalted plum vinegar (13 males and 13 females), a group administered 40 g / day of desalted plum vinegar (15 males and 14 females), and a control group of 40 horses (15 males and 14 females).

[0015] The treatment group was fed half the amount twice a day for about three months. Before and one month after the start of treatment, the horses' body weights were measured, and the coat gloss of the horses was visually observed by a specialist. Visual observations were performed according to the veterinarian's marking standards set by the Japan Racing Association (JRA). The changes in body weight and coat gloss during this period are shown in Figures 1 and 2, respectively. In addition, changes in the intestinal flora of the horses were examined from the feces, and the bacterial flora in the feces was compared between groups at the genus level using Lefse analysis. The results are shown in Figures 3 and 4.

[0016] During the administration period, body weight increased steadily in both the administration and non-administration groups. As for fur gloss, the time it took for the non-administration group to reach the state it had three months after the start of administration was shortened by administering desalted plum vinegar. Also, while there was no significant difference in body weight change, the administration group tended to eat better, meaning their appetite was stimulated, and not only was the odor of horse manure mitigated, but they also tended to recover from fatigue more quickly. Also, a significant increase in bacteria belonging to the genus Kiritimatiellae was observed before and after the administration period. This genus of bacteria is said to be related to mucus production in the large intestine and contributing to the normalization of digestive function (Edwards J, et al.,Multi-kingdom haracterization of the core equine fecal microbiota based on multiple equine (sub) species., Animal Microbiome., 2020, 2(1):1-16), and it has been reported that the presence rate of this genus is lower in horses with diarrhea than in healthy horses (https: / / doi.org / 10.1371 / journal.pone.0244381). Therefore, it can be said that a significant increase in this genus of bacteria suppresses the occurrence of diarrhea symptoms, and that plum extract has an intestinal regulating effect. [Industrial Applicability]

[0017] The present invention provides a supplement for livestock, which has the effects of promoting improvement of coat gloss and promoting recovery from fatigue in livestock, particularly horses.

Claims

1. A supplement containing plum extract as an active ingredient that is used to improve the coat of livestock, increase appetite, relieve fatigue, and regulate the intestines.

2. The supplement according to claim 1, wherein the plum extract is plum vinegar.

3. The supplement according to claim 1, wherein the plum extract is concentrated plum vinegar.

4. A method for feeding a plum extract to livestock for any one of the purposes of improving the coat of the livestock, increasing appetite, recovering from fatigue, and regulating the intestines.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the plum extract is plum vinegar.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the plum extract is concentrated plum vinegar.

7. Use of an extract of plum for the manufacture of a supplement to be administered to livestock.

8. The use according to claim 7, wherein the livestock is a horse.

9. The use according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the plum extract is plum vinegar.

10. The use according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the plum extract is concentrated plum vinegar.

Images