Haemato-Biochemical and Immune Responses to Dietary Sugarcane Press Mud in Calves

Abstract

Eighteen Vrindavani male calves aged 5–6 months with a mean body weight of 33 ± 0.15 kg were divided into three treatments of six each as: T0 (control) fed with concentrate feed mixture (CFM) without inclusion of sugarcane press mud (SPM); T1 fed with CFM containing 10% SPM and T2 had 20% SPM substituting wheat bran on a physical (w/w) basis. All the three isonitrogenous CFM were prepared in mash form and offered to animals along with wheat straw in a proportion of 60:40 for 180 days. Blood samples were drawn to estimate biochemical and immune responses of experimental calves. Haematological indices like haemoglobin and packed cell volume did not vary (P > 0.05) among the three groups. Similarly, blood metabolites like glucose, total protein, albumin, globulin, albumin: globulin ratio, total cholesterol, urea and creatinine were not different due to dietary treatments. Furthermore, no effect was detected on serum enzymes such as alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase. In addition, serum minerals like calcium, phosphorus, zinc, copper and iron remained unchanged across three groups. Also, the data on immune competence revealed that the effect of treatment was non-significant (P > 0.05) for both humoral- and cell-mediated immune responses among three groups of calves. Based on these findings, it is concluded that dietary utilisation of SPM up to 20% of CFM equivalent to 12% of the total diet of calves has no adverse effects on blood biochemistry and immunity. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The National Academy of Sciences, India 2024.