The aim of this study was to compare the nutritional value of sunflower meal (SFM) and soybean meal (SBM) protein by determining both its ruminal degradability and intestinal digestibility. Three non lactating Jersey cows fitted with a rumen and T-type duodenal cannulas were used to estimate rumen degradability and intestinal digestibility of SFM and SBM dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP). Samples of SFM were collected from seven sunflower processing plants (SFM1 to SFM7). Six different samples of SBM were collected from three main suppliers (SBM1 to SBM6). Both protein feeds were incubated in the rumen of the cows for 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24 and 48 h in 6 replications. The rapidly degradable fraction of DM averaged 24. 8% for SFM which was lower (P<0. 01) than that observed for SBM (29. 2%). The effective DM degrad-ability of SFM (56. 2 %/h), at mean rumen outflow rate of 0. 06/h, was lower (P<0. 01) compared with SBM samples (67. 3 %/h). The washable fraction a of CP was higher (P<0. 01) for SFM samples (26. 3%) in com-parison to all batches of SBM (16. 5%). The effective degradability of SFM CP (67. 7 %/h) at rumen passage rate of 0. 06/h was higher (P<0. 01) than in SBM (63. 0 %/h). The DM intestinal digestibility of SFM samples (42. 6%) measured by the mobile bag technique was lower (P<0. 01) compared to SBM samples (71. 9%). The intestinal digestibility of SFM CP (89. 9%) was also lower (P<0. 01) than in SBM (94. 6%). Results of this study indicate that SBM samples were more resistant to ruminal degradation than SFM. The data sug-gest that changing the toasting parameters can decrease degradability of SFM to improve protein quality.

In this study, chemical compositions of black seed meals samples were determined. 18 male weaning Zandi lambs with an average body weight of 23.5 ±1.5 kg were used in a completely randomized design in three groups of six in individual pens. Experimental treatments were: 1) control (basal diet with 12% soybean meal and without black seed meal), 2) diet containing 6% soybean meal and 9% black seed meal and 3) diet containing 18% black seed meal and without soybean meal. The concentration of dry matter, crude protein, crude fat, NDF, ADF, ADIN, and crude ash of black seed meal samples were 97.53±0.58, 31.26±0.99, 15.16 ± 0.61, 25.95 ± 1.34, 14.2±0.80, 0.69±0.04 and 5.07 ± 0.24, respectively. Replacement of soybean meal with black seed meal in the diet of experimental lambs had no effect on final body weight, daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio, dry matter intake, dressing percentage, tail and total body fat deposition. Albumin and total protein were higher for lambs fed by diet containing 18 % black seed meal compared to other treatments (P <0.05). However, the concentration of blood triglyceride, cholesterol and urea nitrogen were not differed between experimental groups. The digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude fat and protein were not affect by feeding of experimental diets. It seems that black seed meal can be used in the diet of fattening lambs up to 18% without adverse effect on performance and nutrients digestibility of growing lambs.

The aim of present study was to evaluate the effects of fish meal replacement with sunflower meal on growth, hematological indices and plasma biochemistry of common carp fingerlings. Fish with average weight of 3.03±0.36g were fed for 10weeks by five diets including replacement levels of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% of fishmeal with sunflower meal. Finally, blood samples were taken from caudal vein and hematological indices including red (RBC) and white blood cells (WBC), differential count of WBC, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration and some biochemical parameters of plasma including triglyceride, cholesterol and glucose were determined. Based on the results, 25 and 100% treatments had significant increase and decrease in final weight, respectively (P<0.05). Differences among treatments in all hematological indices were not significant (P>0.05). In plasma biochemical parameters, there was significant decline in triglyceride level in100% treatment (P<0.05) and cholesterol was significantly higher in control (P<0.05), but in glucose content, difference was not significant among treatments(P>0.05). According to the results of this study, replacement of fish meal with sunflower meal in common carp fingerlings diet up to 75% is suggested.

The presented study shows a simple way for optimization of extrusion process, which was used for deterioration of cyanogenic glycosides – antinutritive components of linseed, with minimum damage of essential Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA) at the same time.Extrusion of the material was done on a laboratory single screw extruder. Content of Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) as a measurement of cyanogenic glycosides in produced coextrudate and fatty acid composition were determined, together with basic chemical analyses, which were done in accordance with AOAC methods. Statistical analysis showed that HCN content in the product was the most dependent (P=0.0002) on quadratic influence of moisture content of starting material. The highest HCN content (126 mg kg-1) was measured at the lowest moisture content (7%) and the lowest screw speed (240 rpm).Low moisture content caused weak volatilization of HCN along with the evaporating water, which was intensified with higher values of moisture content. However, increase in moisture content from 11.5 to 16% slightly increased the amount of present HCN, due to the lower material viscosity. Extrusion process caused some changes in fatty acid composition, but even the highest degradation of ALA did not exceed 4%. Linear and quadratic influence of moisture content on ALA reduction was significant (P<0.05), as well as quadratic influence of screw speed. Specific attention has to be paid to selecting appropriate levels of screw speed and moisture content of the material which contains linseed, in order to achieve both detoxification of linseed and preservation of essential fatty acids.

Background and Objectives: The imbalance between the production of rumen degradable protein (RDP) and microbial protein (MP) decreases animal performance and increases environmental pollution. Therefore, to meet the requirements for microbial protein without excessive N, rations must also be balanced for RUP and RDP. Sunflower meal (SFM) is a protein source for ruminants. However, its use in ruminant nutrition is often limited by the high protein degradability in the rumen. Irradiation is a new method that is considered in the processing of protein sources. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of irradiation on rumen degradation kinetics and in vitro digestibility of SFM. Materials and Methods: SFM samples were irradiated with the use of the gamma-ray (GR) in doses of 20 and 40 KGy and microwave (MV) at 800 W for 3 and 5 minutes. The irradiation of samples was done at the Radiation Application Research Institute affiliated with the Atomic Energy Organization. The chemical composition of unirradiated and irradiated SFM was determined. Degradability parameters of the samples were measured by nylon bag technique using three rumen-fistulated Dashtyari cattle for 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, and 48 hours. The two-step digestion technique was used to determine the digestibility of SFM. Statistical analysis of data was performed using SAS software. Results: GR irradiation decreased DM of SFM. Irradiation of SFM caused a reduction in EE, NDF, ADF, and Ash and increased CP compared to unirradiated SFM. GR irradiation decreased washout fraction degradation, the rate constant of degradation of b fraction and ERD, and increased potentially degradable fraction of SFM. MV irradiation for 5 minutes increased the washout fraction of CP and decreased the potentially degradable fraction (P<0. 05). Treatment of SFM by MV for 5 minutes caused a reduction in the potential degradability of CP (P<0. 01). Processing of SFM with MV for 3 minutes decreased ERD of CP at a rumen outflow rate of 0. 02h-1 (P<0. 05). GR irradiation decreased RDP and increased RUP and metabolizable protein (MP) (P<0. 01). Irradiation of SFM with GR increased ERD of CP at rumen outflow rates of 0. 05h-1 and -1 0. 08h (P<0. 01). Irradiation of SFM with MV increased RDP (P<0. 01) and increased ERD and MP at a rumen outflow rate of 0. 02h-1 (P<0. 01). MV irradiation for 3 minutes at rumen outflow rates of 0. 02h-1 -1 and 0. 05h increased RUP (P<0. 05). The coefficient of crude protein conversion into RDP and RUP in GR-irradiated SFM was decreased and increased respectively (P<0. 01). MV irradiation for 3 minutes at rumen outflow rate of 0. 02h-1 coefficient of crude protein converts into RDP and RUP decreased and increased respectively (P<0. 05). The in vitro digestibility of SFM was unaffected by irradiation (P>0. 05). Conclusion: The experiment results indicated that irradiation of SFM with GR had a better effect on increasing RUP and improving the quality of SFM for use in diets of lactating cows.

In a biological experiment, 390 day old male Ross broiler chieks were used in a completely randomized design with five treatments and three replicates for seven weeks period to investigate the effect of different levels (8 and 16) of high and low fibre sunflower seed meal on broiler performance. All diets were compared with control group (without sunflower seed meal). No significant different was found in weight gain and feed intake among treatments in comparison with control group. Results showed that feeding 16% low fibre sunflower meal significantly increased feed conversion ratio in comparison to control group (p<0.05). The relative weight of gizzard with increasing level of sunflower seed meal in the diet increased but this difference was only significant in diet with 16% high fibre sunflower seed meal. Protein efficiency ratios were measured for all diets and statistical analysis showed that there is a significant difference between 16% low fibre sunflower meal and control group (p<0.05). Economical comparison of diets showed that the cost of live weight production in all treatments containing sunflower seed meal were higher than control group.The results indicate that feeding up to 16% high fibre sunflower meal in broiler diet has no adverse effect on broiler performance and carcass quality.

This research was performed to compare electron beam (EB) and gamma ray (GR) treatments at doses of 25, 50 and 75 kilo Gray (kGy) on ruminal degradation kinetics and in vitro digestibility of sunflower meal (SFM). Ionizing radiations of EB and GR had significant effects (P<0.05) on dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and amino acid (AA) degradability parameters of SFM. Effective ruminal degradability (ERD) of DM was lower in EB and GR irradiated SFM than in unirradiated SFM (P<0.05). GR treatment at a dose of 75 kGy decreased ERD of CP compared to control (P<0.05). ERD of CP was not affected by EB (P>0.05). Irradiation processing caused a decrease in AA degradation after 16 h of ruminal incubation significantly (P<0.05). GR irradiation was more effective than EB irradiation in lessening the ruminal degradability of AA. In vitro CP digestibility of EB and GR irradiated SFM was improved (P<0.05). This study, based on in situ and in vitro measures, showed that EB and GR processing can be used as an efficient method in improving nutritional value of SFM.

Utilization of sunflower meal (SFM) with hulls in leghorn type layer diet was studied in a completely randomized design (CRD) experiment with 4 treatments, 8 replicates and 4 hens in each replicate. After determining chemical composition of SFM, four diets with, including equal ME (2900kca/kg) and cp (14.5%) containing 0, 5, 10 and 15 percent SFM were formulated. During the experiment, daily feed consumption, hen - day egg production, egg weight, feed conversion ratio) (kg feed/kg egg) and mortality were measured weekly. In the beginning and the end of the experiment body weight of the hens were) measured individually. The results indicated) that utilization of 10 percent hulled SFM had, no adverse effects on daily feed consumption, hen - day egg production, however, increasing SFM consumption up to 15 percent decreased daily feed consumption, hen - day egg production and egg weight decreased 5.70, 7.06 and 5.49 percent) respectively while, feed conversion ratio increased significantly (p<0.05). According to the results it can be concluded that 10 percent SFM with hulls can be used in egg type lager diet.