Effects of Gossypol Content of Cottonseed Cake on Blood Constituents in Growing-Fattening Lambs

¹ Department of Animal Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece 11855
² Karditsa Agricultural Research Station, Thessaly, Greece 43100
³ Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Animal Nutrition, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece 54006

The effect of gossypol content of cottonseed cake given as a source of CP in lamb (n = 8) rations was examined on the following blood parameters: plasma total protein, albumin, globulins, urea, glucose, hematocrit, hemoglobin, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentrations. The diets were isonitrogenous and isocaloric and contained 0, 15, and 30% cottonseed cake for 62 d. Blood samples were taken at the beginning, middle, and end of the experiment. Plasma total protein and globulins were higher at d 30 of the experimental period, but plasma albumin concentration, hematocrit, and hemoglobin were higher at the beginning of the experiment; plasma urea concentration was higher at d 60, and plasma glucose concentration was lower at d 30 of the experiment. The highest fraction in all treatments was albumin, followed by ₂-globulin and ß-globulin fractions, and there was no ₁-globulin fraction at d 30 and 60 of the experimental period. Liver examination showed significant differences in free gossypol content and accumulation, total N, and total protein percentage among the three treatments. Gossypol toxicity was not observed. The absence of gossypol toxicity in these animals has been attributed to detoxification of free gossypol by the formation of gossypol-protein complex in the rumen.

Key Words: cottonseed cake • gossypol • lamb • blood

Submitted on April 19, 1991
Accepted on July 22, 1991