Effects of Black Sugar Supplementation on Dry Matter Intake, Milk Yield, and Milk Composition in Holstein Dairy Cow

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of supplementing additional sucrose, in the form of black sugar (BS), into the diet of Holstein dairy cows on dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield, and milk composition. Eight Holstein dairy cows ($741{\pm}65.8kg$ body weight) were divided into two groups, including the control and BS groups. Animals in the control group were offered a total mixed ration (TMR) ad libitum, and the BS group was offered TMR with 300 g of BS/head/d. After two weeks of adaptation period, the animal performance, including DMI, milk yield and milk composition, was measured. Cows supplemented with BS appeared to consume more feed than that by the controls (i.e., 17.08 and 18.28 kg/d for the control and BS groups, respectively). However, there were no significant differences between treatments. Milk yield or milk composition, such as milk fat, milk protein, lactose, solids-non-fat, total solids and pH, did not differ between treatments. However, there was a significant difference (p<0.05) in the concentration of milk urea nitrogen (MUN). The MUN concentration of the BS group was approximately 15% lower than that of the control group (i.e., 18.75 vs. 16.05 mg/dL for the control and BS groups, respectively), which suggests improved nitrogen metabolism in the animals. The somatic cell count was numerically lower in the cows of the BS group compared to those in the control group. However, a significant difference was not noted due to the substantial amount of variation among cows. In terms of the trace mineral composition for milk, the concentration of Cu from BS animals was higher (p<0.05) than that of the control animals. In summary, supplementing the diets of dairy cows with BS marginally affected animal performance and improved nitrogen metabolism. The level of supplementation and other factors, such as animal variation were discussed.