INTERPRETIVE SUMMARIES, DECEMBER 2011

摘要

Dietary supplementation with nonconventional feeds from the Middle East: Assessing the effects on physicochemical and organoleptic properties of Awassi sheep milk and yogurt. By Hilali et ah, page 5737. The livelihoods of resource-poor dairy farmers in the Middle East are being affected by drought, rangeland degradation, and increasing feed costs. Poorly utilized agricultural byproducts and other nonconventional feeds could be used as low-cost supplements in sheep diets, although effects on animal production and milk quality have yet to be fully tested. Yogurt is one of the main sources of income in dairy sheep farming systems in the region, with its market price related to firmness and appearance. Treated straw, sugar beet pulp, molasses, and vetch were tested and found to affect yogurt characteristics.