RESUMEN
Pulses (pea, chickpea, lentil, bean) are an important source of food proteins. They contain high amounts of lysine, leucine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid and arginine and provide well balanced essential amino acid profiles when consumed with cereals. The influence of partial substitution of wheat flour with chickpea flour at the levels of 10, 20 and 30 % was carried out to study their pasting properties and bread making quality. Pasting properties were determined using Micro Visco-Amylo-Graph Analyser and Farinograph. The pasting temperature increased with increase chickpea flour concentration and the temperature of pasting ranged between 62 to 66.5 °C. No peak of viscosity curve was found for pure chickpea flour and have higher pasting temperature than pure wheat flour. Chickpea flour addition increased the water absorption and dough development time (p < 0.05), Regarding dough stability, it appears that 10 % chickpea exhibited higher stability and resistance to mechanical mixing values than the control, while it decreased as the substitute level increases from 20 % to 30 %. The dough surface of the wheat dough and the blend with 10 % was classified as "normal", however the blend with 20 % and 30 % produced "sticky" dough surface. The presence of chickpea flour in dough affected bread quality in terms of volume, internal structure and texture. The color of crust and crumb got progressively darker as the level of chickpea flour substitution increased. While the substitution of wheat flour with 10 % chickpea flour gave loaves as similar as control.
RESUMEN
Persistent breeding-induced endometritis is ranked as the third most common medical problem in the adult mare and leads to enormous economic loss in horse breeding. In mares suffering from persistent breeding-induced endometritis, increased amounts of intrauterine (i.u.) fluid or viscous mucus in estrus or after breeding may act as a barrier for sperm and can contribute to low fertility. Current therapies of these mares aim to eliminate i.u. fluid and mucus by uterine lavage and/or administration of ecbolic drugs. Recently, i.u. administration of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been shown to support therapy in mares with endometritis. It was the objective of the present study to investigate effects of an oral administration of NAC on the viscosity of i.u. fluid in estrous mares. It was hypothesized that oral treatment with NAC reduces the viscosity of i.u. fluid and has a positive effect on the inflammatory response of the endometrium. Mares (n = 12) were included in the study as soon as estrus was detected (ovarian follicle >3.0 cm and endometrial edema), which was defined as Day 1. They were randomly assigned to a treatment (10 mg/kg NAC on Days 1-4) or a control group (no treatment). On days 1 and 5 i.u. mucus was collected and its rheologic properties were accessed. On Day 5, endometrial biopsies were obtained and evaluated for integrity of the luminal epithelium, number of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), staining for cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2), staining with Kiel 67 antigen (Ki-67), lectins and periodic acid Schiff (PAS). In the treatment group, viscosity of i.u. mucus increased significantly between Days 1 and 5 (P < 0.05), while no differences were found in control mares (n.s.). At no time were significant differences between treated and control mares seen. Integrity of epithelium was not affected. After NAC treatment the mean number of PMN in endometrial biopsies was significantly lower compared to mares of the control group (1.9 ± 0.3 vs. 4.8 ± 0.4; P < 0.05). Nuclear immunostaining for COX2 was significantly lower after NAC treatment compared to control mares (P < 0.05). Score for PAS and Alcain staining of mucus in deep uterine glands differed significantly between groups (both P < 0.05). We conclude that oral NAC treatment does not reduce viscosity of uterine mucus but has an antiinflammatory effect on the equine endometrium.