This study was conducted to investigate changes in immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration, nutrient content, and microbial communities of fresh and heat-treated Holstein colostrum collected from a colostrum bank operated by a local agricultural technology center in Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea. Of the 16 colostrum samples, 8 were heated at 60℃ for 30 min under a pressure of 0.9–1 bar. The colostrum samples were stored at −70℃ until use, at which time they were thawed at 50–55℃ in a water bath to analyze IgG levels, chemical composition, and microbiome, which was identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing using the Illumina MiSeq-PE250 platform. The IgG concentrations were similar in fresh and heat-treated colostrum. The fat, protein, and lactose contents also did not differ in these samples. However, somatic cell count (SCC) was lower in heat-treated colostrum than those in fresh colostrum (p<0.05). At the phylum level for the microbiome of fresh colostrum, Proteobacteria (44.16%) was the most abundant taxa, followed by Bacteroidota (33.26%), Firmicutes (10.04%), Actinobacteriota (7.14%), and a marginal difference in the order of abundance was observed in heat-treated colostrum. At the genus level, bacteria belonging to Sphingomonas, Delftia, Ochrobactrum, Simplicispira, and Lactobacillus were more abundant (p<0.05) in the heat-treated colostrum, while the abundance of Acinetobacter in the fresh colostrum was four times more (p<0.05) than that in the heat-treated colostrum. Our results demonstrated that heating does not affect IgG level and colostrum composition but reduces SCC (p<0.05), suggesting that heat-treated colostrum can potentially be put to further use (e.g., feeding Hanwoo calves) without compromising its quality. Differences in the microbiome between the fresh and heat-treated colostrum were limited. Further studies are required to extensively investigate the quality and safety of colostrum collected from dairy farms to ensure better utilization and processing at a local agricultural technology center.

A laboratory-scale experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of supplementing commonly used effective microorganisms on the chemical properties of swine liquid manure. Effective microorganisms used in this study were Bacillus subtilis (1.3×109 colony-forming unit (CFU)/ml), Enterococcus faecium (1.9×1010 CFU/ml), Aspergillus oryzae (2.0×109 CFU/ml), Saccharomyces cerevisiae (6.4×109 CFU/ml), Rhodobacter sphaeroides (1.2×108 CFU/ml), and Streptomyces griseus (6.2×108 CFU/ml). Swine liquid manure collected and decanted from a swine farm was used in this study. Treatments included control (distilled water supplementation), Treatment 1 (T1) (mixed microbes, 109 CFU/ml), and Treatment 2 (T2) (mixed microbes, 107 CFU/ml). Microbial mix was supplemented every 3.5 days and aerated six times (15 min each) a day to facilitate compositing. Ten ml of sample was collected at 2-, 4-, 6-, and 7-week intervals for the measurement of pH, ammonia-N, volatile fatty acid (VFA), total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total potassium. At seven weeks, samples were further collected to analyze biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). Ammonia-N was significantly (p<0.05) decreased in T1 and T2 by 36% and 30%, respectively, compared with control (23%). VFAs including butyrate, iso-butyrate, valerate, iso-valerate, and caproate were not detected in T1 from the four-week aerated sample. The BOD and COD were significantly (p<0.05) decreased in T1 by 96% and 58%, respectively. In conclusion, ammonia-N, VFA, BOD, and COD, known as odor indicators, were decreased in T1 and T2 compared with control, suggesting that effective microorganisms are useful for compositing swine liquid manure

The sexual maturation occurred by the changes of steroid hormones was known to sex-dependently and/or agedependently regulate the lipid metabolism in various animal species. Our current study demonstrates that lipid and its functional fatty acids can be changed depending on the status of sexual maturation. Of the functional fatty acids, γ- linolenic acid (GLA; 18:3n-6) is an important factor for maintaining human health. The purpose of our study was to investigate the level of GLA in mice with different stages of sexual maturation. To this end, the longissimus muscle (LM) of immature (3-week-old) and mature (7-week-old) female mice was analysed for the fatty acid composition by gas chromatography. Furthermore, both gene and protein level of Δ6 desaturase (FADS2) which is involved in GLA metabolism by real time PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Mature females showed greater (P<0.05) serum 17β -estradiol (E2) level and LM GLA contents than immature group. The mRNA and protein levels of FADS2, which converts precursor linoleic acid into GLA, were higher (P<0.05) in mature female mice than in immature mice. In conclusion, these results show that sexual maturation of female mice induces GLA and FADS2 contents in LM.