Eleonora Erika Cappone

502306
Phd: 38th cycle
Dottorato in Scienze Veterinarie per la Salute Animale e la Sicurezza Alimentare
Matriculation number: 813689
ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0007-3839-2977

Contacts

Supervisor

Phd thesis

Title

Valorisation of autochthonous chicken breeds: reviving and restoring the prominence of the Bionda Piemontese, Bianca di Saluzzo and Millefiori Piemontese

State of the art

Recently, poultry biodiversity suffered significant losses due to the widespread adoption of commercial hybrids, overshadowing local breeds. In Piedmont, three chicken breeds are recognised: Bionda Piemontese (BP), Bianca di Saluzzo (BS) and Millefiori Piemontese (MP). These are rustic, dual-purpose breeds, particularly suited for extensive and alternative farming systems, needing lower inputs compared to commercial lines. Although widely reared and appreciated for their productions, due to the industrialization of livestock farming they faced a rapid decline, while MP was officially considered as extinct in the ‘90s and has only recently been re-discovered. For this reason, little information is available on BP and BS, while no information is available on MP.

Materials and methods

The present PhD project aims at safeguarding and valorising autochthonous, endangered chicken breeds, while re-evaluating their productions.

Firstly, to investigate the preference of Italian consumers on chicken meat and eggs, as well as their knowledge of Italian poultry biodiversity, a survey was developed and distributed.

To assess the growth and productive performance of the three Piedmontese breeds, 569 BP and 460 BS eggs were collected from the previous generation housed at the poultry facility of the University of Turin and 134 MP eggs were collected from two breeders in Cuneo and Pinerolo (TO, Piedmont, Italy), for a total of 1,163 eggs, and hatched in a commercial hatchery. Among the 776 hatched chicks, 344 (128 BP, 128 BS and 88 MP) were reared at the poultry facility.

At 29 d of age, the chickens were divided into pens, according to breed and sex (10 birds/pen; 6 replicates/sex for BP and BS, 4 replicates/sex for MP). In vivo evaluations included the recording of the individual live weight and feed consumption biweekly and the welfare evaluation (avoidance distance test, novel object test and tonic immobility test) once a month4,5. At 2.5 and 5 months, the phenotypic traits of each breed and sex were recorded (wingspan, body length, etc.).

The birds were fed ad libitum a commercial feed (CP: 17.7 g/100g; AMEn: 13.26 MJ/kg). At 172 d, to the same feed, an indigestible marker (TiO2) was added to determine ileal digestibility at slaughtering. At 182 d of age, all male chickens were individually weighed, and 12 males/breed were selected for slaughtering, based on the average weight of the pen. Before being slaughtered, few feathers were collected from the scapular area of each bird for corticosterone evaluation and blood samples were collected for clinical chemistry analysis during exsanguination.

Post-mortem evaluations include:

1) carcass and organs weight

2) anatomopathological sampling and examinations of spleen, liver, duodenum, and jejunum

3) collection of ileal and caecal contents for the evaluation of volatile fatty acids, ammonia, microbiota, and digestibility

4) meat quality analysis on the Pectoralis major and Biceps femoris:

- colour and pH (after being refrigerated for 24h at 4°C)

- chemical composition

- oxidative status (TBARS)

- fatty acids profile

- anserine and carnosine evaluation

On the Pectoralis major:

- panel test

- water holding capacity

- shear force test.

To evaluate the reproductive performance, egg production was recorded daily over 12 months and at 277 days of age birds were divided into genetic families (MP: 4, BP and BS: 6; sex ratio 1:10). Egg quality analyses were performed monthly, and 2 incubation tests assessed the fertility and hatching rates. Sexual behaviors were analyzed using video recordings conducted once every 2 months for 2 consecutive days. For sensory evaluation, 15 eggs/breed were collected and compared with commercial brown and white eggs by 10 trained paelists, who evaluated different sensory attributes on a scale from 1 to 9.

Research activities

Co supervisor

Dominga Soglia

Scientific publications related to the PhD program:

1) Cappone E.E., Zambotto V., Mota-Gutierrez J., Soglia D., Daniele G.M., Cianciabella M., Pieroni A., Soukand R., Penasa M., Buccioni A., Marzoni M., Iaffaldano N., Castellini C., Cerolini S., Forte C., Schiavone A. 2025. Native Italian poultry products: the factos influencing consumer perceptions. Italian Journal of Animal Science. 24:1, 347-360.

Scientific publications (as co-author):

1) Fiorilla E., Gariglio M., Martinez-Miro S., Rosique C., Madrid J., Montalban A., Biasato I., Bongiorno V., Cappone E.E., Soglia D., Schiavone A.; Improving sustainability in autochthonous slow-growing chicken farming: exploring new frontiers through the use of alternative dietary proteins; Journal of Cleaner Production, 434; 2024.

2) Bongiorno V., Gariglio M., Zambotto V., Cappone E.E., Biasato I., Renna M., Gasco L., Bergagna S., Manenti I., Macchi E., Gai F., Schiavone A. 2024. Organic medium-growing chickens fed live black soldier fly larvae: a welfare improvement study. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition, 108.

3) Fiorilla E., Gariglio M., Martinez-Miro S., Rosique C., Madrid J., Montalban A., Biasato I., Bongiorno V., Cappone E.E., Soglia D., Schiavone A. 2024. Improving sustainability in autochthonous slow-growing chicken farming: exploring new frontiers through the use of alternative dietary proteins. Journal of Cleaner Production, 434.

4) Fiorilla E., Gariglio M., Gai F., Zambotto V., Bongiorno V., Cappone E.E., Rødbotten R., Koga S., Rieder A., Tengstrand E., Pozzo S., Daniele G.M., Cianciabella M., Predieri S., Forte C., Schiavone A. 2024. Breaking down barriers: live or dehydrated dietary whole black soldier fly larvae supplementation in slow growing chickens preserve meat quality and sensory traits. Poultry Science, 103(11).

5) Fiorilla E., Gariglio M., Gai F., Zambotto V., Bongiorno V., Cappone E.E., Biasato I., Bergagna S., Madrid J., Martinez-Miro S., Capucchio M.T., Ippolito D., Fabrikov D., Lyn Castillo L., Cortes J., Coudron C., Schiavone A. 2024. Dehydrated and live clack soldier fly larvae as environmental enrichment in indigenous slow-growing chickens: performance, gut health, and chitinolytic enzyme activity. Animal, 18(8).

6) Fiorilla E., Ferrocino I., Gariglio M., Gai F., Zambotto V., Ozella L., Franciosa I., Giribaldi M., Antoniazzi S., Raspa F., Cappone E.E., Fabrikov D., Bongiorno V., Ippolito D., Sferra C., Capucchio M.T., Schiavone A. 2024. Beyond soybean meal: investigating the effects of dietary protein alternatives on gut health, liver function and microbiota in traditional slow-growing chicken breeds. Italian Journal of Animal Science, 23(1).

7) Fiorilla E., Ferrocino I., Gariglio M., Gai F., Zambotto V., Ozella L., Franciosa I., Gribaldi M., Antoniazzi S., Raspa F., Cappone E.E., Fabrikov D., Pozzo S., Bongiorno V., Calissano A., Ippolito D., Bergagna S., Srikanthithasan K., Forte C., Capucchio M.T., Schiavone Achille. 2024. Black soldier fly larvae: a one health approach to investigate gut, and organ health and meat quality response in slow-growing chickens. BMC Veterinary Research, 20(1): 580.

8) Stoppani N., Cappone E.E., Soglia D., Profiti M., Maione S., Schiavone A., Sartore S. 2024. Genetic characterisation of a recovered Italian chicken breed: the Millefiori Piemontese. Italian Journal of Animal Science, 23(1).

9) Srikanthithasan K., Gariglio M., Diaz Vicuna E., Fiorilla E., Miniscalco B., Zambotto V., Cappone E.E., Stoppani N., Soglia D., Raspa F., Nery J., Giorgino A., Sala R., Martinez Marin A.L., Madrid Sanchez J., Schiavone A., Forte C. 2024. Dietary processed former foodstuff for broilers: impacts on growth performance, digestibility, hematobiochemical profiles and liver gene abundance. Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology, 15(1).

Congress abstracts

1) Cappone E.E., Soglia D., Sartore S., Zambotto V., Maione S., Profiti M., Bongiorno V., Gariglio M., Cerolini S., Schiavone A.; Millefiori Piemontese, genetic characterization of an endangered local chicken breed. 25th ASPA Congress, June 13-16 2023, Monopoli (Bari, Italy). Oral presentation.

2) Cappone E.E., Gosso E., Schiavone A.; Italian market chicken breeds: exploring biodiversity through macroscopic analysis of colorful eggs. Egg&Meat Congress, September 7-9 2023, Krakow (Poland). Oral presentation.

3) Cappone E.E., Bongiorno V., Fiorilla E., Gariglio M., Macchi E., Manenti I., Stoppani N., Soglia D., Schiavone A. Measuring ethological parameters and corticosterone levels in three slow- growing Piedmontese chicken breeds. International Workshop on Measurements and Applications in Veterinary and Animal Sciences, 22-24/04/2024, Torino (Italy). Oral presentation.

4) Cappone E.E., Bongiorno V., Fiorilla E., Stoppani N., Gai F., Zambotto V., Soglia D., Gariglio M., Schiavone A. Rediscovering the Italian poultry trasures: reviving the Millefiori Piemontese. XVI European Poultry Congress, 24-28/06/2024, Valencia (Spain). Oral presentation.

5) Cappone E.E., Cianciabella M., Lippi N., Gai F., Schiavone A., Daniele G.M. Evaluation of organoleptic characteristics of three Italian chicken breeds and comparison with commercial hybrids through meat sensory analysis. EuroSense 2024, 8-11/09/2024, Dublin (Ireland). Poster contribution.

Congress abstracts (as co-author):

1) Fiorilla E., Gariglio M., Bongiorno V., Cappone E.E., Zambotto V., Gai F., Cortes J., Coudron C., Biasato I., Schiavone A.; Growth and slaughtering performance of a local chicken breed fed dried and live Black soldier fly larvae as environmental enrichment. European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition, June 21-24 2023, Rimini (Italy).

2) Zambotto V., Fiorilla E., Bongiorno V., Cappone E.E., Gariglio M., Gasco L., Daniele G.M., Cianciabella M., Schiavone A., Gai F., Predieri S.; Sensory evaluation of breast meat from Bianca di Saluzzo chicken supplemented with live and dried Black soldier fly larvae. 69th ICoMST Congress, August 20-25 2023, Padova (Italy).

3) Fiorilla E., Gariglio M., Martinez Miro S., Rosique C., Hernandez F., Madrid J., Montalban Perez A., Biasato I., Bongiorno V., Cappone E.E., Schiavone A. Assessing the environmental impact of poultry feed in meat type autochthonous chicken farming. XVI European Poultry Congress, 24-28/06/2024, Valencia (Spain)

4) Fiorilla E., Cappone E.E., Zambotto V., Bianchi C., Gai F., Rødbotten R., Rieder A., Ozella L., Gariglio M., Schiavone A. Rapid protein quantification in chicken breast: a comparison of NIR spectroscopy and the Kjeldahl method. International Workshop on Measurements and Applications in Veterinary and Animal Sciences, 22-24/04/2024, Turin (Italy)

5) Fiorilla E., Gariglio M., Bongiorno V., Cappone E.E., Zambotto V., Madrid J., Martinez Miro S., Gai F., Schiavone A. Beyond nutrition: enhancing poultry well-being through insect-enriched diets. 4th International Animal Nutrition Congress, 29/02-03/03/2024, Antalya (Turkey)

6) Fiorilla E., Gariglio M., Cappone E.E., Bongiorno V., Bianchi C., Zambotto V., Schiavone A. Exploring the influence of alternative feed ingredients on meat production and quality in slow- growing autochthonous chicken breed. 75th annual meeting of the European Association for Animal Production, 1-5/09/2024, Florence (Italy)

7) Stoppani N., Manuelian C.L., Sciuto S., Cappone E.E., Gariglio M., Acutis P., Schiavone A., Soglia D. Potential use of a pocket near-infrared spectroscopy device to directly discriminate local chicken meat. 75th annual meeting of the European Association for Animal Production, 1- 5/09/2024, Florence (Italy)

Other training:

- 07/10/2021: Webinar “L’agronomo nelle aziende zootecniche per il benessere animale”, CONAF, Italy.

- 16/11/2022: Seminar – “EIT Food FEEL LOCAL ITALY”, Workshop per la filiera agro- alimentare"