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Food, fibre and pharmaceuticals from animals
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Effects of supplementary bee pollen and its polysaccharides on nutrient digestibility and serum biochemical parameters in Holstein calves

Yan Tu A , Guo-Feng Zhang A , Kai-Dong Deng B , Nai-Feng Zhang A and Qi-Yu Diao A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Feed Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.

B College of Animal Science, Jinling Institute of Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210038, China.

C Corresponding author. Email: diaoqiyu@caas.cn

Animal Production Science 55(10) 1318-1323 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN14684
Submitted: 19 February 2014  Accepted: 8 August 2014   Published: 28 October 2014

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of supplementing the diets of 14–70-day calves with dietary bee pollen (BP) or its polysaccharides (PS) on growth performance, serum biochemical parameters, and apparent nutrient digestibility. Twenty-five newborn Holstein female calves were randomly offered one of the five diets (five calves per diet): a milk replacer supplemented with 0 (Control), 10 (10BP), 25 (25BP), or 50 g/day (50BP) bee pollen, or 5 g/day (5PS) bee pollen polysaccharides. The trial lasted 56 days, during which growth performance, apparent nutrient digestibility, and serum biochemical parameters were measured. Calves fed diets with BP had a greater bodyweight gain. Supplementation with BP or PS had significant effects on the apparent digestibility of DM, Ca and P in calves (P = 0.025, 0.012, and 0.076, respectively). The apparent DM digestibility of calves from group 25BP or 5PS was increased by 9.7% or 8.2% (P = 0.007 or 0.019), respectively, compared with that in the Control group. No significant differences were observed in serum concentrations of alkaline phosphatase, urea nitrogen, glucose, total protein, albumin, total cholesterol and triglycerides. These results demonstrated that dietary supplementation of BP at 25 g/day·calf or PS at 5 g/day·calf improved nutrient digestibility in pre-ruminant calves.

Additional keywords: bee pollen, dairy calf, pollen polysaccharide, serum biochemical parameters.


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