Feeding <i>Aquilaria sinensis</i> Leaves Modulates Lipid Metabolism and Improves the Meat Quality of Goats
Li Min,
Gang Wang,
Xiong Tong,
Huaigu Yang,
Hao Sun,
Zhifei Zhang,
Bin Xu,
Dagang Li,
Sheng Zhang,
Guanghong Li
Affiliations
Li Min
Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture (Heyuan Branch), Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Gang Wang
Key Laboratory of Animal Disease Prevention of Guangdong Province, Institute of Animal Health, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Xiong Tong
Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture (Heyuan Branch), Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Huaigu Yang
Key Laboratory of Functional Foods, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Agricultural Products Processing, Sericultural & Agri-Food Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510610, China
Hao Sun
Henan Key Laboratory of Innovation and Utilization of Grassland Resources, College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Zhifei Zhang
Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture (Heyuan Branch), Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Bin Xu
Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture (Heyuan Branch), Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Dagang Li
Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture (Heyuan Branch), Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Sheng Zhang
Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility, Institute of Biotechnology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Guanghong Li
Guangdong Chuangsheng Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., Shaoguan 512000, China
Aquilaria (A.) sinensis is a medicinal plant widely grown in tropical South China. Given the abundant pruning waste of its leaves, the use of A. sinensis leaves is valuable. In this study, goats were fed a diet containing 20% A. sinensis leaves. Compared with the basal diet, feeding A. sinensis leaves to goats did not affect growth performance but considerably reduced the feeding cost. Strikingly, feeding A. sinensis leaves resulted in a significant decrease in the blood cholesterol levels (2.11 vs. 1.49 mmol/L, p = 0.01) along with a significant increase in the high-density lipoprotein levels (1.42 vs. 1.82 mmol/L, p = 0.01). There was also a tendency to lower the content of low-density lipoprotein levels in goats (0.78 vs. 0.45 mmol/L, p = 0.09). Furthermore, metabolomics analysis demonstrated that the reduction in cholesterol levels occurred in both the serum (0.387-fold change) and muscle (0.382-fold change) of goats during A. sinensis leaf feeding. The metabolic responses to feeding A. sinensis leaves suggest that the activation of lipolysis metabolism might happen in goats. These observed changes would be conducive to improving animal health and meat quality, ultimately benefiting human health.
