Resesrch Lines
- Animal welfare: on farm methods for the assessment of welfare in livestock (monogastric and polygastric); influence of the type of breeding and management on animal welfare through the examination of productive, physiological, immunological and metabolic parameters
- Sustainable breeding systems: study on the productive and health aspects of sheep farms where homeopathy is practiced
- Quality of products of animal origin with particular reference to milk of species of zootechnical interest. Assessments of the chemical, physical, nutritional, nutraceutical and technological quality of products from monogastric and polygastric animals in relation to variability factors such as genotype, physiology and farming system. Comparative evaluations between raw food and processed products (milk vs cheese and dairy products)
- Morphological and productive evaluation of species of zootechnical interest: characterization of native populations by evaluating their morphological and functional characteristics to identify the possibility of technical and economic improvements
- Sustainability: studies on the environmental impact of different breeding systems of livestock and research on strategies to make animal productions more sustainable
- Meat production: effects of genotype, farming system and diet on the production performance; variability of qualitative characteristics of meat based on endogenous and exogenous factors, including some post-mortem and conservation factors
- Quality of game meat: studies on the main factors (age, gender, habitat, etc) influencing meat quality
- Wolf predation on livestock reared in a extensive/semiextensive system: quantification and characterization of this phenomenum in different provinces (Pisa, Lucca, Massa, Savona) to point out defence system to protect livestock
- Well-being and breeding studies in equids: investigations during the perinatal period aimed at monitoring serum and colostrum fractions in the mare-foal pair for the evaluation of passive immunity in sport horses; equine rehabilitation with use of swimming pool and water treadmill for the reintegration of injured subjects in competitive activities; morpho-functional and aptitude studies on milk production in Amiata donkey; research relating to wellbeing and safety of use for various morphological, behavioral and attitudinal characteristics in Equine Assisted Intervention (EAI); investigations concerning the use of equine milk in human nutrition and pediatric allergology relating to evaluation of protein, carbohydrate and lipid components of nutritional interest in mare and donkey milk
Academic Staff