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Effects of Dietary Supplementation with Branched-chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) during Nursing on Plasma BCAA Levels and Subsequent Growth in Cattle |
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J. Y. Li, K. Suzuki, Y. Koike, D. S. Chen, T. Yonezawa, M. Nishihara, N. Manabe |
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| Abstract |
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To determine the effects of short-term dietary supplementation of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) during nursing (from 3 to 28 days of age) on plasma BCAA levels and subsequent growths in cattle, 12 nursing male Holstein calves, randomly assigned to control and treatment groups (n = 6 in each group), orally received a daily supplement of essential BCAAs (2 g/kg body weight/day; 1:1:1 of valine, leucine and isoleucine) or not. The plasma BCAA levels increased linearly after the administration. During the treatment period, average daily gain (ADG) was lower in the treatment group (0.43 0.07 kg/day) than the controls (0.71 0.07 kg/day, p<0.05). However, at 2 months of age, ADG was significantly higher in the BCAA-treated group (1.16 0.26 kg/day vs. 0.51 0.06 kg/day, p<0.05). Furthermore, at age 8, 9 and 10 month, ADG in the treated group (1.35 0.23, 1.46 0.07 and 1.60 0.16 kg/day, respectively) showed a linear increase and was significantly higher than that in the control group (0.88 0.14, 0.70 0.21 and 1.11 0.11 kg/kg, respectively, p<0.05). Overall, ADG was 15.6% higher in the treatment group (1.26 0.05 kg vs. 1.09 0.04 kg; p<0.05). The final body weight at slaughter was 14.8% higher in the treatment group (759.5 17.7 kg vs. 661.7 21.2 kg, p<0.01). Thus, the supplementation of BCAAs during nursing improves ADG and carcass weight in cattle and is a useful husbandry technique for beef cattle. |
| Keywords:
Branched-chain Amino Acid; Plasma Concentration; Average Daily Gain; Carcass Weight; Cattle |
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