Palatability of extruded dog diets supplemented with Ascophyllum nodosum L. (Fucaceae, Phaeophyceae)

Although Ascophyllum nodosum , a brown seaweed (Phaeophyceae) of the family Fucaceae, is widely used in companion animal products, few studies have attempted to evaluate its influence on foodstuff palatability. This study investigated the effect of A. nodosum on extruded dog food palatability using the split-plate test. Eleven naїve dogs were used. Ascophyllum nodosum (AN) palatability was evaluated across separate tests for three pairwise comparisons between a control extruded food (CTR) and two experimental foods, obtained by adding A. nodosum at low (0.3%, AN-low) or high (1.0%, AN-high) concentrations to the CTR food. Food intake within the first 5 min and first choice eating behaviour was recorded. Differences in food consumption were only registered where the CTR and the AN-high foods were compared (21.11 vs. 7.62 g kg −1 BW 0.75 ; P