Effects of Knotweed-Enriched Feed on the Blood Characteristics and Fitness of Horses

Kovářová, Marcela; Maděra, Petr; Frantík, Tomáš; Novák, Jan; Vencl, Štěpán

doi:10.3390/agriculture12010109

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Knotweed-Enriched Feed on the Blood Characteristics and Fitness of Horses

by

Marcela Kovářová

^1,*

,

Petr Maděra

¹

,

Tomáš Frantík

^1,2

,

Jan Novák

³

and

Štěpán Vencl

⁴

¹

Department of Forest Botany, Dendrology and Geobiocoenology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1665/1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic

²

Department of Mycorrhizal Symbioses, Institute of Botany of the CAS, 25243 Průhonice, 100 00 Prague, Czech Republic

³

Dibaq, Helvíkovice 90, 564 01 Žamberk, Czech Republic

⁴

Veterinary Laboratory, Jirchářská 217, 517 41 Kostelec nad Orlicí, Czech Republic

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Agriculture 2022, 12(1), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12010109

Submission received: 28 November 2021 / Revised: 5 January 2022 / Accepted: 10 January 2022 / Published: 13 January 2022

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Safety and Efficacy of Feed Additives in Animal Production)

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Abstract

The aboveground biomass of dry knotweed was administered daily to large groups of young (1- to 3-year-old) stallions of the Czech Warmblood, Czech-Moravian Coldblood and Silesian Norik breeds, fed individually for 4 and 6 months in two successive winter experiments. Their fitness was compared with control groups consisting of equally numerous subgroups comparable in age, breed, body mass and initial blood parameters. The effects of knotweed on the horses’ fitness were evaluated based on changes in blood characteristics. Even if administered in small amounts, 150 g per day, knotweed could (1) increase the thrombocyte numbers, (2) increase the globulin content (thus improving the horses’ immunity, which is desired in large groups of animals), (3) stimulate lipid metabolism in cold-blooded horses and (4) decrease the concentration of cholesterol. The long-lasting effect of knotweed on both the urea and triglyceride–cholesterol ratio presumably reflected, between the two experiments, the temporary protein starvation of horses on pastures with poor quality of grass in a dry summer.

Keywords: stallion; bioactive compounds; immunity; lipids; cholesterol

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MDPI and ACS Style

Kovářová, M.; Maděra, P.; Frantík, T.; Novák, J.; Vencl, Š. Effects of Knotweed-Enriched Feed on the Blood Characteristics and Fitness of Horses. Agriculture 2022, 12, 109. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12010109

AMA Style

Kovářová M, Maděra P, Frantík T, Novák J, Vencl Š. Effects of Knotweed-Enriched Feed on the Blood Characteristics and Fitness of Horses. Agriculture. 2022; 12(1):109. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12010109

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kovářová, Marcela, Petr Maděra, Tomáš Frantík, Jan Novák, and Štěpán Vencl. 2022. "Effects of Knotweed-Enriched Feed on the Blood Characteristics and Fitness of Horses" Agriculture 12, no. 1: 109. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12010109

APA Style

Kovářová, M., Maděra, P., Frantík, T., Novák, J., & Vencl, Š. (2022). Effects of Knotweed-Enriched Feed on the Blood Characteristics and Fitness of Horses. Agriculture, 12(1), 109. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12010109

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Effects of Knotweed-Enriched Feed on the Blood Characteristics and Fitness of Horses

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