EFFECT OF FEEDING GILOY (TINOSPORA CORDIFOLIA) AND FENUGREEK (TRIGONELLA FOENUM-GRAECUM) ON LIPID PROFILE IN JERSEY CROSSBRED COWS

The study was conducted on Jersey crossbred lactating cows maintained at the Instructional Livestock Farm, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, CSKHPKV, Palampur (Himachal Pradesh), India. The lactating cows were randomly divided into four groups, each group having six animals. T1 , T2 and T3 group cows received Giloy stem powder (150 g), or Fenugreek seed powder (150 g), and a combination of both the herbs (75 g of each) respectively, mixed with the concentrate feed for 60 days while the control group (T0 ) received only the concentrate. Blood sampling was done fortnightly, from Day 0 to Day 75. Blood plasma samples were analyzed for Triacylglycerol (TAG), Total Cholesterol, High Density lipoproteins (HDL) and Low density lipoproteins (LDL) plasma levels. It was found that fenugreek alone or in combination with giloy was effective in lowering the Total Cholesterol and LDL levels (p<0.05) in the blood of lactating dairy cows. TAG and HDL levels remained unchanged in control and treated animals. Feeding of giloy alone did not bring about any reduction in lipid profile of the treated animals.