The use of medicinal and aromatic plants, particularly those from the Lamiaceae family, has gained remarkable attention in animal nutrition due to their bioactive compounds such as phenolics, terpenes, and flavonoids. These compounds offer multiple benefits, including antimicrobial, antioxidant, and growth-promoting properties, making them ideal candidates for incorporation into feeding products and nutritional supplements specially adapted for animals. This study presents a comprehensive patent analysis to investigate the innovation landscape surrounding feeding-stuffs formulated with Lamiaceae extracts. Patent data were collected from specialized databases and analyzed based on key International Patent Classification (IPC) codes: A23K (feeding-stuffs adapted for animals) and A61K36/53 (Lamiaceae family’s plants). The analysis covered patent documents published between 1977 and 2024, including patent applications, granted patents, and other document types. The results reveal a steady increase in patenting activity, with significant peaks observed in 2008, 2018, and 2021, reflecting the growing interest in natural feed formulations. China emerged as the leading jurisdiction, followed by the United States and Japan. Major applicants, including Nestlé SA and Ralco Nutrition INC, demonstrated a strong focus on leveraging Lamiaceae extracts in animal nutrition. The technological fields identified through IPC classifications emphasized the role of Lamiaceae and its derivatives in advancing sustainable animal nutrition. This study highlights the innovation potential of Lamiaceae-based feeding-stuffs, underlining their importance in enhancing livestock health and productivity while contributing to eco-friendly agricultural practices. Future research should explore synergistic applications and field validations to optimize their usage in commercial animal nutrition.

Objective: To evaluate the energy metabolites and the glycemic curve of sheep fed with corn silage or different fiber levels in extruded roughage. Material and Methods: The experiment was conducted at the Small Ruminants Sector of Federal University of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Twenty Santa Inês were used, with body weight of 64 kg and 4 years old, allocated in metabolic cages. The animal was distributed in a randomized design and fed ad libitum with (1) corn silage, (2) extruded roughage Foragge® with 52.5% (including virginiamycin as an additive), and (3) 60%, (4) 65%, and (5) 70% Urochloa (no additives added) at 8:00 am and 4:00 pm, during five experimental period of 15 days (10 days of adaptation and 5 days of collection). Blood samples were collected before feeding by venipuncture of the jugular vein using Vacutainer® tubes on days 11, 13, and 15 of the experimental periods. The data were subjected to normality and homoscedasticity tests, followed by analysis of variance, contrast for (1) roughage source and (2) additive addition in extruded roughage, and regression for the levels of extruded roughage (P≤0.05). Results: There was no effect of roughage on cholesterol (57.7 mg dL⁻¹; P = 0.34). However, the corn silage increased the triglyceride (32.67 vs. 16.81 mg dL⁻¹, P<0.01) and reduced the glucose (49.00 vs. 63.62 mg dL⁻¹; P=0.03) compared to the forage as a source of roughage. The additive and levels of extruded roughage (60; 65 and 70%) did not affect blood metabolites (P>0.05). No significant differences were found between sampling times (08:00 am; 11:00 am; 02:00 pm; 05:00 pm e 08:00 pm; 59,78 mg dL⁻¹; P=0.59) or for the treatment vs. time interaction (P=0.95). Conclusion: The use of extruded forage results in higher triglyceride and glucose levels compared to corn silage, indicating a greater energy supply.

Introduction: High-roughage diets limit nutrient intake and ruminant performance; however, extrusion alters fiber stability and degradation. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the performance of lambs fed totally extruded diets with different roughage–concentrate (R:C) ratios. Materials and Methods: The experiment was conducted at the Small Ruminants Sector of the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU), Minas Gerais, Brazil. The experiment was conducted using twenty crossbred lambs (½ Dorper x ½ Santa Inês), with a body weight of 25.0 ± 2.28 kg and an age of 120 ± 8 days, allocated to collective pens (five animals per pen, each pen given one treatment), distributed in a randomized design and fed ad libitum totally extruded diets with different R:C ratios (60:40, 50:50, 40:60, and 30:70) at 08:00 am and 4:00 pm over 105 experimental days (15 days for adaptation and 90 days for collection). The body condition score (BCS) was determined through palpation of the 12th and 13th lumbar vertebrae to assess fat deposition, while body weight (BW) was used to calculate the average daily weight gain of the animals. Both assessments were recorded at 15-day intervals. Data were subjected to normality and homoscedasticity tests, followed by an analysis of variance and regression analysis (P≤0.05). Results: The R:C ratio had no significant effect on BW (33.67 kg; P=0.81), BCS (3.15; P=0.85), or average daily gain (ADG) over the entire evaluation period (0-90 days; 169.77 g day⁻¹; P=0.88) However, significant differences in ADG were observed between treatments during specific periods: from 30 to 45 days (P=0.01; 153.33, 125.00, 241.66, and 325.33 g day⁻¹ for R:C ratios of 30:70, 40:60, 50:50, and 60:40, respectively) and from 75 to 90 days (191.33, 168.33, 75.02, and 102.00 g day⁻¹ for R:C ratios). Conclusion: The inclusion of up to 60% extruded roughage in fully extruded diets does not compromise the overall performance of lambs.

Introduction: Different sources of roughage and nutritional strategies (additives and processing) can alter the metabolism of animals. Objective: We wished to evaluate the protein metabolism of sheep fed with corn silage or extruded roughage of different fiber levels. Materials and Methods: The experiment was conducted at the Small Ruminants Sector of the Federal University of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Twenty Santa Inês sheep were used, with an average body weight of 64 kg and an average age of 4 years old, and allocated into metabolic cages. The animals wwere distributed in a randomized design and fed ad libitum with (1) corn silage, (2) 52.5% Foragge® extruded roughage (including virginiamycin as an additive), and (3) 60%, (4) 65%, and (5) 70% Urochloa (with no additives added) at 8:00 am and 4:00 pm during five experimental periods of 15 days (with 10 days of adaptation and 5 days of collection). Blood samples were collected before feeding via venipuncture of the jugular vein using Vacutainer® tubes on days 11, 13, and 15 of the experimental periods. The data were subjected to normality and homoscedasticity tests, followed by an analysis of variance, contrasting for the (1) roughage source and (2) additive addition in the extruded roughage, and regression for the levels of extruded roughage (P≤0.05). Results: No effect of roughage on creatinine (0.82 mg dL⁻¹; P=0.52) and total protein (5.54 g dL⁻¹; P=0.26) was observed. However, there was a significant effect of the roughage source on urea levels (26.06 vs. 35.87 mg dL⁻¹, silage and forages, respectively; P=0.02), albumin (3.07 vs. 3.51 g dL⁻¹; P=0.04), and uric acid (0.29 vs. 0.13 mg dL⁻¹; P=0.01). Additive and the levels of extruded roughage (60; 65 and 70%) did not affect their blood metabolites. Conclusion: The use of extruded roughage results in higher plasma urea, albumin, and uric acid levels compared to those with corn silage, indicating differences in protein metabolism between these two roughage sources.

This experiment aimed to study the effect of the inclusion of different proportions (0, 5, 10, and 15% dry matter) of ensiled pomegranate by-product in dairy goat diets on dry matter intake (DMI), water intake (WI), milk yield, and reference physiological parameters. A total of 80 goats were selected and divided into 8 groups of 10 animals each (4 treatments × 2 plots) with homogeneous physiological characteristics. After a pre-experimental blood and milk sampling, four additional milk samplings were taken fortnightly, and one more blood sample was collected at the end of the experiment. Milk yield (Lactocorder®, WMB AG, Switzerland), milk composition, and somatic cell count (SCC) (CombiFoss™7DC, Foss, Denmark) were analyzed. Hematological variables were evaluated using the ElementHT5 analyzer (SCILVET, Spain), and plasmatic metabolites were analyzed with the rapid diagnostic disk “Diagnóstico II” for ElementRC3X (SCILVET, Spain). Statistical analysis was performed using a mixed linear model (Proc. Glimmix, SAS v9.4), considering the covariate effect in pre-experimental sampling, treatment (4 levels), experimental sampling (4 levels), and their interaction (16 levels), with plots nested within treatments. For blood samples, only two levels of sampling were considered. The goat was considered the random effect. Regarding productive indices, the sampling and covariate were significant (P < 0.05). For DMI and WI, treatment and sampling were significant, while their interaction was only significant for DMI. Concerning physiological parameters, only sampling was significant but not biologically relevant. A decline in milk yield was observed, corrected when considering its composition (FPCM), along the experiment. DMI was lower in the highest inclusion treatment (15%). WI was inversely proportional to pomegranate inclusion. Feed efficiency had no significant effect on milk yield. SCC declined in the highest inclusion treatments (10% and 15%). No physiological parameters showed significant changes due to the new diet. Pomegranate silage can be included by up to 15% DM in dairy goats' diets short-term, although long-term experiments are needed. This study was supported by the Valencian Government (CIAICO/2021/301).