Impacts of flavor and aromatic palatants on consumption behavior in nursing foals
C N Crowell1, G C Handlos1, D R Discepolo1
1Department of Animal Science, Food & Nutrition, School of Agricultural Sciences, Southern Illinois University, 1205 Lincoln Drive, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA.
Background:
Palatability research in horses has primarily been conducted in mature, non-lactating horses and has typically investigated gustatory rather than aromatic preference.
Aims/Objectives:
The objective of this study was to investigate the gustatory and aromatic preferences of nursing foals.
Methods:
Stock-type mare (13.25 ± 4.40 years) and foal (6 ± 3 weeks) pairings (n = 4) were utilized in multi-preference testing for treatments including apple, anise, peppermint and control (no palatant). Mares and foals were placed in assigned split stalls for 1800 seconds and provided unrestricted access to all treatment diets (n = 4). Variables of interest included: first treatments investigated (FI), consumed (FC), and finished (FF); maternal effects of treatment locations, and time spent consuming each treatment.
Results:
Gustatory testing revealed no effect of palatant on frequency of FI (P= 0.5996), FC (P= 0.4278), or FF (P= 0.9914). Similarly, aromatic testing revealed no treatment effects for FI (P= 0.5206), FC (P = 0.5206), or FF (P = 0.1650). However, peppermint aroma exhibited a numerical increase in time spent consuming (257.97±103.03 seconds; P = 0.1003) when compared to apple (139.23±77 seconds) or anise (148.85±84.09 seconds). Interestingly, a significant location effect was observed, with foals more likely to finish diets in location 1 (P= 0.0003) which was closest to the mare.
Conclusion:
Collectively, these findings indicate that environmental and maternal influences had a greater impact on foal feeding behavior than palatant or aromatic treatments.
More Related Videos
05:55How to Create Conditioned Taste Aversion for Grazing Ground Covers in Woody Crops with Small Ruminants
Published on: April 30, 2016
11:16A Novel Procedure for Evaluating the Reinforcing Properties of Tastants in Laboratory Rats: Operant Intraoral Self-administration
Published on: February 6, 2014
Related Concept Videos
Taste Buds and Receptors
Conditioned Taste Aversion
A notable characteristic of conditioned taste aversion is that it often requires only a single...
Gustation
The Physiology of Taste
Tonicity in Animals
Tonicity in Animals
