Abstract #T521

# T521
Conditioned taste aversion generalization by aroma in sheep.
Carmen L. Manuelian1, Elena Albanell1, Maristela Rovai*1, Ahmed K. K. Salama1,2, Gerardo Caja1, 1Group of Ruminant Research (G2R), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain, 2Animal Production Research Institute, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

Neophobia is an innate protective mechanism that allows animals to learn from postingestive consequences of eating a new and potentially toxic feed before being harmed by it. Small ruminants usually begin to eat an edible feed that they have not previously encountered by ingesting small amounts; thereafter, if there is no negative feedback, they will gradually increase the intake. On the other hand, if there is a negative feedback, they will associated feed characteristics (taste, odor, texture and sight) with the gastrointestinal discomfort and develop rejection for that feed (food aversion, AV). Despite odor, taste and flavor have been used to increase feed intake; however, few studies have examined its effect in AV. The AV occurs to both the taste and odor of a food (flavor); however, if odor is conditioned in compound with taste, potentiation of the odor will occur. Therefore, when the odor is tested by itself, it becomes a highly potent cue for AV. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of 2 breeds of sheep (Manchega, n = 10; Lacaune, n = 10) to generalize the induced AV against a concentrate with strawberry odor to barley and grass flavored with the same aroma. The odor was selected after a preliminary test of acceptability between chocolate and strawberry odors with no taste cues. Ewes were allocated into 2 groups/breed and treatment consisted in: Control (C, water) and Aversion (AV, 225 mg LiCl/kg BW). For AV induction, 100 g of concentrated with strawberry odor was offered individually during 5 min and thereafter orally administered the treatment (water or LiCl). The AV induction lasted 3 d, and redosing when necessary (intake > 75 g). On d 6, 100 g of concentrated, barley and grass with strawberry odor were offered individually during 5 min each food. The 80% of the animals needed ≥ 2 LiCl doses to establish the AV. No differences between breeds were observed in the AV behavior. Generalization of the AV toward barley and grass with strawberry odor was not observed. In conclusion, the use of a flavor instead of an odor could be more effective in the AV generalization. Acknowledgments: Spanish Plan Nacional I+D+I (Project AGL2010–22178-CO2–01) and Lucta (Montornés del Valles, Spain).

Key Words: lithium chloride, flavor, neophobia