- Email: [email protected]
Effects of year and sampling site on mean fibre diameter of Alashan cashmere goat
Small Ruminant Research 137 (2016) 71–72
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Small Ruminant Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/smallrumres
Short communication
Effects of year and sampling site on mean fibre diameter of Alashan cashmere goat Marco Antonini a , Jun Wang b , Yujie Lou b , Peirong Tang c , Carlo Renieri d , Irene Pazzaglia d,∗ , Alessandro Valbonesi d a
Italian National Agency for new Technology, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, ENEA UTAGRI Inn CR Casaccia, Roma, Italy College of Animal Science and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China c Livestock Improvement Station of Alashan, Inner Mongolia Autonomous District, Alashan Left Banner, 750300, China d School of Bioscience and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Italy b
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 23 March 2015 Received in revised form 26 February 2016 Accepted 12 March 2016 Available online 16 March 2016 Keywords: Cashmere goat Alashan Age Body areas
a b s t r a c t Fourteen female Alashan white cashmere goats were investigated for fibre finesses (diameter) and coefficient of variation of fineness (CV). The investigation focused on the same animals combed at 1, 3 and 4 years of age and fibres were collected from 10 different body areas. A statistically significant effect was observed for both year of collection and body areas. The present paper suggests that the fibres of one-year old animals should be kept distinct from older ones, likewise fibres from upper part of the body should be separated from the others. © 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.
1. Introduction China is by far the largest producer of cashmere (http://www. naturalfantasy.it) and Alashan white cashmere goats are famous for their quality. Fineness is one of the most important characteristic for spinnability and value of textile products (Allain and Renieri, 2010; McGregor, 2006), together with homogeneity and length of cashmere fibres (Schneider, 2010). In animal fibre producers, the Diameter seems to be affected by both body areas and age (Antonini et al., 2004; Aylan-Parker and McGregor, 2002; McGregor et al., 2011; Tabbaa et al., 2001; Taddeo et al., 2000). Yet, breeders comb cashmere on the whole body of goats and cashmere from goats of different age is collected in the same bag, thus reducing the value of cashmere fibre. The aim of the paper is to promote a new method for fleece collection which may allow to obtain more fineness and homogeneous cashmere lots. 2. Materials and methods Fourteen female from Alashan cashmere goats, born in 2008 at Animal Improvement Station of Alashan Left Banner, were
randomly selected. The farm is located in the territory of Jilantai, in Alashan Left Banner, a semi-desert steppe environment. Selected goats were sampled and weighed at 1, 3 and 4 years of age since May 2009. The cashmere fibres were collected from 10 areas of the goat right body site (Fig. 1) and analysed only for the undercoat. An average of 8850 fibres, for each sample, were analysed by OFDA 100. Investigations were conducted on fibres’ diameter and CV. Pearson’s correlation coefficients between body weight, diameter and CV, was calculated at different ages. As a significant correlation between the body weight and the other two variables were not observed throughout the whole period of investigation, we disregarded this variable in the “Analysis of repeated measures procedure” (Landau and Everitt, 2004), was aimed at detecting the effects of age and body parts on the fibre parameters investigated. Once it was determined that differences do exist among the means of the parameters investigated, in relation to the levels of both the age and the body areas, pairwise multiple comparisons, were used to determine which means differed, as per Hochberg’s GT2 significant difference test. Statistical analyses were carried out by means of SPSS12.0 software. 3. Results
∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (I. Pazzaglia). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2016.03.011 0921-4488/© 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.
There were significant differences between fibre diameters, 15.6 m (sd = 0.64), 17 m (sd = 0.99) and 16.4 m (sd = 0.89) for
72
M. Antonini et al. / Small Ruminant Research 137 (2016) 71–72
year old showed a better diameter (on average <1.11 m) and a major homogeneity (on average CV <4.71%) with respect to the animals combed at 3 and 4 years of age. The ten different body areas, according to the fibre diameter, can be gathered into three different groups. The first includes areas from the upper part of croup and the thorax (areas: 3, 1, 2, and 5); the second includes neck, shoulder, thigh and anterior legs (areas: 7, 10, 6, and 4); the third includes hind leg and belly (areas: 8 and 9). The first group areas are the best as they show, on average: i) a diameter of 15.89 m (sd = 0.14) vs 16.32 m (sd = 0.14) and 16.98 m (sd = 0.18) of second and third group, respectively, ii) a CV of 25.58% (sd = 0.29) vs 28.67% (sd = 2.46) and 32.93% (sd = 4.01) of second and third group, respectively. 5. Conclusion Fig. 1. Sampling areas from the goat body. Table 1 Pearson correlation coefficients among body weight (BD), fibre diameter (FD) and the related CV, calculates at 1 (2009), 2 (2011) and 4 (2012) years old. Year BD BD a
2009 FD
CV a
0.351
−0.123
BD
2011 FD
CV a
0.532
BD a
0.687
2012 FD
CV
−0.003
0.382a
Correlation significant at 0.01 level.
2009, 2011 and 2012 respectively F = 16.84; P < 0.001. The body weight, respectively 20.21 kg (sd = 0.72), 25.68 kg (sd = 0.65) and 27.06 kg (sd = 0.99) for 2009, 2011 and 2012 shown not homogeneous correlations with the other two characters as shows in Table 1. Significant differences were observed also among the 10 different body areas (F = 27.01; P < 0.001) for fibre diameter and CV. The pairwise multiple comparisons method identified three homogeneous groups: the first included the areas 3, 5, 1, 2, 6, 10 and 7, with lower finesses ranging from 15.7 m up to 16.3 m; the second the areas 6, 10, 7, 4 and 9, with intermediate fineness from 16.2 m up to 16.9 m; the third the areas 4, 9 and 8 with coarser fibres from 16.5 m up to 17.1 m. Analogously, the CV, on average 26.22% (sd = 4.03), 31.16% (sd = 10.79) and 30.71% (sd = 8.26), for 2009, 2011 and 2012 respectively, proved to be significantly different (F = 18.53; P < 0.001). Besides, differences were observed also among the 10 different body areas (F = 5.75; P < 0.001). The pairwise multiple comparisons method identified two homogeneous groups: the first group included the areas 1, 2, 3, 7, 5, 4, 6, 8 and 10 with lower CV ranging from 25.38% up to 31.76%; the second the areas 6, 8, 10, and 9, with higher CV, from 30.41% up to 35.77. 4. Discussion The results of this investigation indicated a strong and significant effect of both the animal year and the goat body areas on diameter of cashmere fibres. Confirming partially the results of a previous study (McGregor et al., 2011). Animals combed at one
The present results suggest collecting cashmere in a rational way: (i) for age, combing first the younger goats and then the older ones and (ii) for body areas, keeping separated from the fibre from upper part from those of the other part of the body. Moreover, utilizing this method, the farmers will obtain batches with lower contamination because the first combed areas are generally cleaner and finer than the others, that are more contaminated by both vegetable matter and excrements. Acknowledgement This work was supported by Loro Piana Cashmere Project. References Allain, D., Renieri, C., 2010. Genetics of fibre production and fleece characteristics in small ruminants, Angora rabbit and South American camelids. Animal 4, 1472–1481. Antonini, M., Gonzales, M., Valbonesi, A., 2004. Relationship between age and postnatal skin follicular development in three types of South American domestic camelids. Livest. Prod. Sci. 90, 241–246. Aylan-Parker, J., McGregor, B.A., 2002. Optimising sampling techniques and estimating sampling variance of fleece quality attributes in alpacas. Small Rumin. Res. 44, 53–64. Landau, S., Everitt, B.S., 2004. A Handbook of Statistical Analyses Using SPSS. Chapman & Hall/CRC, New York Washington, D.C, pp. 1–354. McGregor, B.A., Kerven, C., Toigonbaev, S., 2011. Sources of variation affecting cashmere grown in the Pamir mountain districts of Tajikistan and implications for industry development. Small Rumin. Res. 99, 7–15. McGregor, B.A., 2006. Production, attributes and relative value of alpaca fleeces in southern Australia and implications for industry development. Small Rumin. Res. 61, 93–111. Schneider, G.S., 2010. Market Indicators. Retrieved on 24.08.10 from http://www. gschneider.com/. Tabbaa, M.J., Al-Azzawi, W.A., Campbell, D., 2001. Variation in fleece characteristics of Awassi sheep at different ages. Small Rumin. Res. 41, 95–100. Taddeo, H.R., Duga, L., Almeida, D., Willems, P., Somlo, R., 2000. Variation of mohair quality over the body in Angora goats. Samll Rumin. Res. 36, 285–291.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Small Ruminant Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/smallrumres
Short communication
Effects of year and sampling site on mean fibre diameter of Alashan cashmere goat Marco Antonini a , Jun Wang b , Yujie Lou b , Peirong Tang c , Carlo Renieri d , Irene Pazzaglia d,∗ , Alessandro Valbonesi d a
Italian National Agency for new Technology, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, ENEA UTAGRI Inn CR Casaccia, Roma, Italy College of Animal Science and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China c Livestock Improvement Station of Alashan, Inner Mongolia Autonomous District, Alashan Left Banner, 750300, China d School of Bioscience and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Italy b
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 23 March 2015 Received in revised form 26 February 2016 Accepted 12 March 2016 Available online 16 March 2016 Keywords: Cashmere goat Alashan Age Body areas
a b s t r a c t Fourteen female Alashan white cashmere goats were investigated for fibre finesses (diameter) and coefficient of variation of fineness (CV). The investigation focused on the same animals combed at 1, 3 and 4 years of age and fibres were collected from 10 different body areas. A statistically significant effect was observed for both year of collection and body areas. The present paper suggests that the fibres of one-year old animals should be kept distinct from older ones, likewise fibres from upper part of the body should be separated from the others. © 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.
1. Introduction China is by far the largest producer of cashmere (http://www. naturalfantasy.it) and Alashan white cashmere goats are famous for their quality. Fineness is one of the most important characteristic for spinnability and value of textile products (Allain and Renieri, 2010; McGregor, 2006), together with homogeneity and length of cashmere fibres (Schneider, 2010). In animal fibre producers, the Diameter seems to be affected by both body areas and age (Antonini et al., 2004; Aylan-Parker and McGregor, 2002; McGregor et al., 2011; Tabbaa et al., 2001; Taddeo et al., 2000). Yet, breeders comb cashmere on the whole body of goats and cashmere from goats of different age is collected in the same bag, thus reducing the value of cashmere fibre. The aim of the paper is to promote a new method for fleece collection which may allow to obtain more fineness and homogeneous cashmere lots. 2. Materials and methods Fourteen female from Alashan cashmere goats, born in 2008 at Animal Improvement Station of Alashan Left Banner, were
randomly selected. The farm is located in the territory of Jilantai, in Alashan Left Banner, a semi-desert steppe environment. Selected goats were sampled and weighed at 1, 3 and 4 years of age since May 2009. The cashmere fibres were collected from 10 areas of the goat right body site (Fig. 1) and analysed only for the undercoat. An average of 8850 fibres, for each sample, were analysed by OFDA 100. Investigations were conducted on fibres’ diameter and CV. Pearson’s correlation coefficients between body weight, diameter and CV, was calculated at different ages. As a significant correlation between the body weight and the other two variables were not observed throughout the whole period of investigation, we disregarded this variable in the “Analysis of repeated measures procedure” (Landau and Everitt, 2004), was aimed at detecting the effects of age and body parts on the fibre parameters investigated. Once it was determined that differences do exist among the means of the parameters investigated, in relation to the levels of both the age and the body areas, pairwise multiple comparisons, were used to determine which means differed, as per Hochberg’s GT2 significant difference test. Statistical analyses were carried out by means of SPSS12.0 software. 3. Results
∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (I. Pazzaglia). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2016.03.011 0921-4488/© 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.
There were significant differences between fibre diameters, 15.6 m (sd = 0.64), 17 m (sd = 0.99) and 16.4 m (sd = 0.89) for
72
M. Antonini et al. / Small Ruminant Research 137 (2016) 71–72
year old showed a better diameter (on average <1.11 m) and a major homogeneity (on average CV <4.71%) with respect to the animals combed at 3 and 4 years of age. The ten different body areas, according to the fibre diameter, can be gathered into three different groups. The first includes areas from the upper part of croup and the thorax (areas: 3, 1, 2, and 5); the second includes neck, shoulder, thigh and anterior legs (areas: 7, 10, 6, and 4); the third includes hind leg and belly (areas: 8 and 9). The first group areas are the best as they show, on average: i) a diameter of 15.89 m (sd = 0.14) vs 16.32 m (sd = 0.14) and 16.98 m (sd = 0.18) of second and third group, respectively, ii) a CV of 25.58% (sd = 0.29) vs 28.67% (sd = 2.46) and 32.93% (sd = 4.01) of second and third group, respectively. 5. Conclusion Fig. 1. Sampling areas from the goat body. Table 1 Pearson correlation coefficients among body weight (BD), fibre diameter (FD) and the related CV, calculates at 1 (2009), 2 (2011) and 4 (2012) years old. Year BD BD a
2009 FD
CV a
0.351
−0.123
BD
2011 FD
CV a
0.532
BD a
0.687
2012 FD
CV
−0.003
0.382a
Correlation significant at 0.01 level.
2009, 2011 and 2012 respectively F = 16.84; P < 0.001. The body weight, respectively 20.21 kg (sd = 0.72), 25.68 kg (sd = 0.65) and 27.06 kg (sd = 0.99) for 2009, 2011 and 2012 shown not homogeneous correlations with the other two characters as shows in Table 1. Significant differences were observed also among the 10 different body areas (F = 27.01; P < 0.001) for fibre diameter and CV. The pairwise multiple comparisons method identified three homogeneous groups: the first included the areas 3, 5, 1, 2, 6, 10 and 7, with lower finesses ranging from 15.7 m up to 16.3 m; the second the areas 6, 10, 7, 4 and 9, with intermediate fineness from 16.2 m up to 16.9 m; the third the areas 4, 9 and 8 with coarser fibres from 16.5 m up to 17.1 m. Analogously, the CV, on average 26.22% (sd = 4.03), 31.16% (sd = 10.79) and 30.71% (sd = 8.26), for 2009, 2011 and 2012 respectively, proved to be significantly different (F = 18.53; P < 0.001). Besides, differences were observed also among the 10 different body areas (F = 5.75; P < 0.001). The pairwise multiple comparisons method identified two homogeneous groups: the first group included the areas 1, 2, 3, 7, 5, 4, 6, 8 and 10 with lower CV ranging from 25.38% up to 31.76%; the second the areas 6, 8, 10, and 9, with higher CV, from 30.41% up to 35.77. 4. Discussion The results of this investigation indicated a strong and significant effect of both the animal year and the goat body areas on diameter of cashmere fibres. Confirming partially the results of a previous study (McGregor et al., 2011). Animals combed at one
The present results suggest collecting cashmere in a rational way: (i) for age, combing first the younger goats and then the older ones and (ii) for body areas, keeping separated from the fibre from upper part from those of the other part of the body. Moreover, utilizing this method, the farmers will obtain batches with lower contamination because the first combed areas are generally cleaner and finer than the others, that are more contaminated by both vegetable matter and excrements. Acknowledgement This work was supported by Loro Piana Cashmere Project. References Allain, D., Renieri, C., 2010. Genetics of fibre production and fleece characteristics in small ruminants, Angora rabbit and South American camelids. Animal 4, 1472–1481. Antonini, M., Gonzales, M., Valbonesi, A., 2004. Relationship between age and postnatal skin follicular development in three types of South American domestic camelids. Livest. Prod. Sci. 90, 241–246. Aylan-Parker, J., McGregor, B.A., 2002. Optimising sampling techniques and estimating sampling variance of fleece quality attributes in alpacas. Small Rumin. Res. 44, 53–64. Landau, S., Everitt, B.S., 2004. A Handbook of Statistical Analyses Using SPSS. Chapman & Hall/CRC, New York Washington, D.C, pp. 1–354. McGregor, B.A., Kerven, C., Toigonbaev, S., 2011. Sources of variation affecting cashmere grown in the Pamir mountain districts of Tajikistan and implications for industry development. Small Rumin. Res. 99, 7–15. McGregor, B.A., 2006. Production, attributes and relative value of alpaca fleeces in southern Australia and implications for industry development. Small Rumin. Res. 61, 93–111. Schneider, G.S., 2010. Market Indicators. Retrieved on 24.08.10 from http://www. gschneider.com/. Tabbaa, M.J., Al-Azzawi, W.A., Campbell, D., 2001. Variation in fleece characteristics of Awassi sheep at different ages. Small Rumin. Res. 41, 95–100. Taddeo, H.R., Duga, L., Almeida, D., Willems, P., Somlo, R., 2000. Variation of mohair quality over the body in Angora goats. Samll Rumin. Res. 36, 285–291.