Dietary supplementation of quebracho and chestnut tannins mix in rabbit: effects on live performances, digestibility, carcase traits, antioxidant status, faecal microbial load and economic value

Figures & data

Table 1. Diets chemical compositions.

	Diet
	C	CC	T0.3	T0.6
Dry matter, g/kg	909	918	920	936
Organic matter, g/kg DM	929	928	926	927
Crude protein, g/kg DM	174	174	172	176
Ether extract, g/kg DM	36	37	42	40
Ash, g/kg DM	71	72	74	73
Crude fibre, g/kg DM	150	146	138	148
Neutral detergent fibre, %	397	380	374	386
Acid detergent fibre, %	221	203	203	223
Acid detergent lignin, %	0.50	0.60	0.50	0.60
Hemicelluloses, %	175	177	171	163
Gross energy, MJ/kg	4.36	4.29	4.36	4.37

C: control diet; CC: control diet + coccidiostat; T0.3: control diet +0.3 % tannins mix; T0.6: control diet +0.6 % tannins mix.

Table 2. Productive performance of rabbits.

	Diet				p Value	RMSE
	C	CC	T0.3	T0.6
Initial LW, g	826	8256	829	822	.99	86.50
Final LW, g	2785	2776	2773	2804	.96	234.40
ADG, g/rabbit d	31.90	31.50	30.80	31.60	.71	3.71
FI, g/rabbit d	89.80	88.40	92.90	89.80	.25	4.97
FCR	2.96	2.93	3.07	2.93	.47	0.22

C: control diet; CC: control diet + coccidiostat; T0.3: control diet +0.3 % tannins mix; T0.6: control diet +0.6 % tannins mix; LW: live weight; ADG: average daily weight gain; FI: feed intake; FCR: feed conversion ratio (kg feed intake/kg of live weight gain).

Table 3. Effect of diets on slaughter traits.

	Diet				p-Value	RMSE
	C	CC	T0.3	T0.6
Slaughter weight (SW), g	2844.10	2768.40	2716.30	2857.90	.43	217.28
Skin and paws, g	474.80	446.20	454.40	498.10	.08	47.34
Full gastrointestinal tract weight, g	570.90^a	555.90^ab	491.70^b	502.80^ab	.01	61.54
Hot carcase, g	1657.60	1627.50	1646.20	1730.20	.39	140.63
Slaughter yield
Chilled carcase, g	1587.10	1561.10	1551.20	1654.00	.41	147.96
Chilled carcase yield, % SW	55.80	56.38	57.06	57.85	.29	2.45
Reference carcase, g	1338.10	1316.90	1320.40	1387.00	.54	120.44
Hind legs, g	466.60	456.00	457.90	482.40	.48	41.91
pH 45 min
Longissimus lumborum	7.04	7.02	7.14	6.99	.37	0.19
Biceps femoris	7.22	7.14	7.12	7.01	.13	0.14
pH 24 h
Longissimus lumborum	5.93	5.84	5.94	5.84	.54	0.20
Biceps femoris	6.04	5.88	5.95	5.94	.17	0.16

C: control diet; CC: control diet + coccidiostat; T0.3: control diet +0.3 % tannins mix; T0.6: control diet +0.6 % tannins mix.

Means in the same row with no common superscripts (a–b) differ significantly (p < .05).

Table 4. Effects of chestnut and quebracho tannins mix on superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations of plasma in rabbits.

	Diet
Time of sampling	C	CC	T0.3	T0.6	p-Value	RMSE
T1 (20 days)
SOD	4.43	4.18	4.12	4.10	.85	0.72
CAT	25.27^ab	16.25^b	51.96^a	36.26^ab	.02	18.66
GPX	481.58^a	426.82^ab	393.29^ab	338.53^b	.01	68.40
MDA	0.29	0.39	0.42	0.35	.68	0.18
T2 (40 days)
SOD	4.57	4.74	4.53	4.30	.86	0.88
CAT	27.52	41.54	27.03	53.72	.12	18.66
GPX	461.20^a	403.47^ab	357.63^ab	269.34^b	.00	86.74
MDA	0.40	0.23	0.69	0.40	.19	0.35
T3 (60 days)
SOD	4.87	4.53	4.37	4.76	.49	0.59
CAT	32.40	38.24	29.25	27.63	.72	17.09
GPX	481.16^a	368.67^b	401.35^ab	326.22^b	.00	59.18
MDA	0.44	0.54	0.70	0.28	.51	0.43

C: control diet; CC: control diet + coccidiostat; T0.3: control diet +0.3 % tannins mix; T0.6: control diet +0.6 % tannins mix.

Means in the same row with no common superscripts (a–b) differ significantly (p < .05).

SOD, CAT and GPX expressed in U/ml; MDA expressed in µM.

Table 5. Total tract apparent digestibility (TTAD, %) of the four experimental diets.

	Diet				p-Value	RMSE
	C	CC	T0.3	T0.6
Dry Matter Intake, g/d	84.11	84.92	85.08	86.62	.81	2.09
TTAD, %
DM	62.03	65.48	63.42	61.54	.47	3.73
Organic matter	63.00	66.19	63.98	62.07	.46	3.72
Crude protein	79.24	79.27	79.44	77.93	.86	2.69
Ether extract	85.37	82.02	88.98	84.53	.08	3.06
Neutral detergent fibre (NDF)	35.42	39.28	32.72	32.41	.44	6.49
Acid detergent fibre (ADF)	28.65	28.76	24.91	27.45	.86	7.32
Cellulose (ADF-Acid detergent lignin)	28.72	28.79	24.97	27.49	.86	7.31
Hemicelluloses (NDF-ADF)	43.96	51.33	42.02	39.20	.07	6.00
Gross energy	63.98	66.52	65.10	63.10	.59	3.65

C: control diet; CC: control diet + coccidiostat; T0.3: control diet +0.3 % tannins mix; T0.6: control diet +0.6 % tannins mix.

Figure 1. Microbiological determinations of hard faeces. C (control diet): black line; CC (control diet + coccidiostat): dark grey line; T0.3 (control diet +0.3% tannins mix): grey line; T0.6 (control diet +0.6% tannins mix): light grey line.

Table 6. Economic efficiency of the experimental diets.

	Diet (Indexes; C = 100)
	C	CC	T0.3	T0.6
Average feed intake, kg/rabbit	5.39 (100.00)	5.30 (98.49)	5.57 (103.43)	5.39 (100.04)
Feed price, €/kg	0.33 (100.00)	0.36 (107.37)	0.34 (101.95)	0.35 (103.89)
Feed cost, €	1.82 (100.00)	1.93 (105.75)	1.92 (105.44)	1.89 (103.94)
Average weight gain, kg/rabbit	1.95 (100.00)	1.95 (99.58)	1.94 (99.22)	1.98 (101.14)
Price, €/kg	2.44	2.44	2.44	2.44
Price of weight gain, €	4.78 (100.00)	4.76 (99.58)	4.74 (99.22)	4.83 (101.14)
Net revenue, €	2.95 (100.00)	2.83 (95.77)	2.82 (95.37)	2.94 (99.42)
Economic efficiency Relative economic efficiency	1.62 (100.00)	1.47 (90.56)	1.46 (90.44)	1.55 (95.65)

Values indicated in italics referes to the Indexes when C=100. C: control diet; CC: control diet + coccidiostat; T0.3: control diet +0.3 % tannins mix; T0.6: control diet +0.6 % tannins mix.