• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.135-138
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• 1995

Soybean meal was fermented by Aspergillus usami in order to reduce phytate content. Aflatoxin B1 was not detected in the fermented soybean meal. The contents of crude protein, crude fiber, ether extract and crude ash were slightly increased following fermentation with a concomitant reduction in nitrogen free extract. Though the fermentation partly degraded proteins in the soybean meal, there was small difference in amino acid composition between the soybean meal and the fermented soybean meal. The results showed that the fermentation did not affect nutritional value of protein in soybean meal. Approximately 55% of phosphorus extracted by trichloroacetic acid was inositol hexaphosphate (phytate) in the soybean meal. The content of inositol tetra to hexaphosphates was not detected in the fermented soybean meal. These results indicated that the fermentation almost completely eliminated phytate in soybean meal. Phytase activity was not detected in the unfermented soybean meal. However, the enzyme activity in the fermented soybean meal was 167.7 U/g. When the fermented soybean meal in supplemented in formula feeds, phytase in the fermented soybean meal might partly degrade the phytate in other ingredients in the digestive tract. The fermented soybean meal is possibly used as a phytate-free protein source of feed, which contains high available phosphorus.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.179-186
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• 1995

In the present study, nutritional status of some minerals in sheep grazed on native pasture was investigated in dry area, Ningxia district, of the People's Republic of China. Samples of some forages and blood of sheep were collected for two seasons, dry (March) and rainy (August) seasons. The Ca contents of forages (wheat straw, green-pea straw and some wild grasses) were relatively high as compared with that required ordinarily as standard, but on the contrary, the P content was much lower than that of standard. Consequently, Ca/P ratio was very high in cost of the roughages sampled in the region. Trace elements, Cu and Zn, content of forage samples were fairly low, and the contents of Mo and Fe were fairly high, particularly in some wild grasses, when the values were compared with that required normally. The Ca level in blood of sheep was in a range accepted as normal, and the other macro minerals(Mg and P) were contained at relatively high levels as compared with the values observed ordinarily, but not at a toxic level. With trace minerals, the plasma Fe level was extremely high as compared with the standard level, although there were no disorders due to toxicity, and Mo level in plasma was a little lower than the lower limit described as a normal. The plasma levels of other trace elements (Cu, Zn and Se) in all the animals were within the range accepted as normal. There would be no clear differences in mineral nutrition of sheep between dry and rainy seasons. These results could suggest that there is no severe unbalance and/or imbalance, and grazing sheep in the Ningxia area of midland China have no problems relating to the nutritional status of minerals.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.467-470
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• 1994

Effects of animo acids infusion into the abomasum on plasma growth hormone (GH) concentration were investigated using three wethers of 54 kg of average body weight. Wethers were infused with either 3.25 mmol/kg BW/day of sodium chloride solution (control), 3 mmol/kg BW/day of alanine (Ala), or 3 mmol/kg BW/day of aspartic acid (Asp) continuously for five days through an abomasum cathether in a $3{\times}3$ Latin square desing. On the day of starting infusion (day 0) and day 4 blood samples were collected from a jugular vein every fifteen minutes for six hours after feeding, and their GH concentrations were measured. Blood samples were also collected immediately before starting infusion (day 0), and before feeding of day 1, day 2 and day 4, and their plasma free amino acid concentrations were measured. In the animals infused with Ala, plasma free Ala concentration was increased by Ala infusion and it continued for four days. Plasma GH concentration of these animals increased on day 0, but this phenomenon disappeared on day 4. In the animals infused with Asp, the increase in plasma Asp concentration was observed only on day 1. Plasma GH concentration of these animals was not affected by Asp infusion. These results suggest that continuous Ala infusion stimulates GH secretion for a short period, but the effect would not last long, and that continuous Asp infusion does not affect plasma GH concentration.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.855-860
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• 2005

This study was designed to test the effects of changes in energy and protein intake levels on the maternal milk amino acid concentrations over the short-term in lactating mares. Three lactating mares were enrolled for the study 7 weeks after parturition. A low-energy and low-protein diet (LEP) was administered during the first week of the study, followed by administration of a high-energy and high-protein diet (HEP), again for a week (day 1 to day 7), and milk was sampled thrice daily at intervals of 8 h during the study period. The mean amino acid concentrations in the maternal milk, except for those of proline, serine and valine, were significantly higher in the HEP feeding period than during the LEP feeding period (p<0.05). The sum of the concentrations of all the amino acids (TAA) in the maternal milk samples during the HEP and LEP feeding periods was 1,644.9${\pm}$26.9 and 1,542.3${\pm}$36.0 mg/100 g, respectively, the difference between the two was not significant. When the ratio of each amino acid concentration to the TAA in the maternal milk was analyzed, there were significant differences between the HEP and LEP feeding periods for all amino acids, except glycine, serine, alanine and histidine. It was found that the concentrations of glutamic acid+glutamine, serine, threonine, arginine and valine were significantly higher (p<0.05) on day 1 than on day 7 during the LEP feeding period, and there were no such differences during the HEP feeding period. In regard to the effects of changes in the energy and protein intake levels in lactating mares, no changes in milk amino acid concentrations were found following administration of HEP for a week, whereas 7 days of administration of LEP was associated with a decrease in the amino acid concentrations.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.973-979
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• 2004

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the digestible energy intake and energy expenditure in yearling horses on different training protocols (uphill- and level-track exercise training protocols). Twenty-four thoroughbred yearlings (12 males and 12 females, aged 27.0$\pm$0.9 months) were divided into two groups based on their training on two different tracks: the uphill (with a gradient of about 3%) training group (uphill training) and the level training group (level training). The digestible energy (DE) intake and energy expenditure (EE) during exercise were measured in both the groups. It was found that the DE intake in the uphill training and the level training groups was 5.1$\pm$3.1 and 36.9$\pm$4.8 Mcal/day, respectively. The EE during exercise in the two groups was 3.05$\pm$0.51 and 2.07 $\pm$0.56 Mcal, respectively. Thus, there was a significant difference in the EE (p<0.05), but not in the DE intake between the animals of the two training groups. The EE for a given intensity of exercise was greater in the uphill training group than in the level training group, but the DE intake was not affected by the exercise intensity. The DE intake was not generally affected by the intensity of exercise in this study, but a daily negative gain of body weight was observed in the uphill training group, particularly in the females. Thus, the energy requirement may be higher in yearlings undergoing uphill training than in those undergoing level training.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.599-602
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• 1997

Fluctuation of fungal zoospores on agar strips were observed in the rumen of sheep fed three different levels of dietary concentrate, timothy hay: concentrate = 3:0 (AF diet), timothy hay: concentrate = 2:1 (MC diet), timothy hay : concentrate = 1:2 (HC diet) respectively. The number of zoospores on the strip was drastically decreased after morning feed with AF diet. The number was the highest at 0 h ($1.34{\times}10^2/cm^2$), then declined to $2.0{\times}10^3/cm^2$ at 9 h after feeding. In the rumen of animals fed MC diet, the number of zoospores decreased with time after feeding, although the decrement was slower than that with AF diet. During 0-3 h after feeding, number of zoospores was $1.6{\times}10^4/cm^2$. Although the number slightly decreased at 6 and 9 h, relatively high levels were maintained. It seems that the inducers for zoospore-release were maintained at relatively high concentration throughout incubation period. The fluctuation pattern of number of germinated zoospores was different in the rumen of animals fed HC diet from those of AF and MC diets. The number of zoospores was constantly maintained at lower level ($1.0{\times}10^3/cm^2$) than the other diets. For MC diet, continuous high number of germinated zoospores may be due to the continuous release of zoospores by hemes in timothy hay and concentrate feed, and by unknown mechanisms. Unlike AF diet which promoted relatively rapid decline of zoosporogenesis, supplementation of concentrate feed to the timothy hay did not promote such rapid decline of zoosporogenesis. It was suggested that release of inducers for zoosporogenesis from concentrate feed persisted longer time than from timothy hay. HC diet promoted the lowest zoospore production, suggested the lowest fungal population size in this experiment. These results show that an appropriate amount of concentrate may support fungal growth and stimulate zoosporogenesis in the rumen.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.273-277
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• 1994

A $3{\times}3$ latin square design experiment was conducted to study eating and rumination behavior in sheep fed rice straw (RS) supplemented with soybean meal (SBM) and barley at three different levels of crude protein: low (40 g CP/d, LCP), medium (67 g/d, MCP) and high (94 g/d, HCP). In addition, all the supplements were formulated to contain the same amount of total digestible nutrients (TDN; 275 g). Daily time spent eating and eating rate of RS were not affected by any supplementation. However, time spent ruminating in sheep fed HCP diet was markedly shorter (p<0.05) than in those fed LCP and MCP diets. Rumination index (ruminating time/100 g DM intake) was also significantly reduced (p<0.05) by increasing level of protein supplementation. Although no significant differences were observed, the daily number of rumination periods tended to be lower, while daily number of boli regurgitated was considerably higher in sheep fed HCP diet than in those fed LCP and MCP diets. Increasing level of protein supplementation did not affect the number of chews per bolus, bolus time and rate of chewing during rumination. It is suggested that increasing level of protein supplementation was associated with more effective microbial reduction of rumen digesta particle size and consequently reduced the time spent ruminating.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.265-271
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• 1994

The effect of soybean meal and barley supplementation of the utilization of rice straw was investigated. Balance trials were conducted with three Japanese Corriedale wethers fed rice straw supplemented with soybean meal and barley at three different levels of protein: low (40 g CP/d, LCP), medium (67 g/d, MCP) and high (94 g/d, HCP). In addition, all the supplements were formulated to contain the same amount of TDN (275 g/d). Voluntary intake of rice straw was not affected by any supplementation, while digestibility of organic matter in sheep given HCO diet was significantly higher (p<0.05) than those on LCP diet. Crude protein, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) digestibilities of MCP and HCP diets were significantly improved (p<0.05) over the LCP diet. Average daily gain of the animals under MCP and HCP diets were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those under LCP diet. Differences of rumen pH among the treatments were not significant, while concentration of rumen $NH_3-N$ was significantly higher (p<0.05) for HCP diet than for LCP and MCP diets. Total volatile fatty acids ($VFA_s$) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) concentrations were significantly higher (p<0.05) in sheep fed MCP and HCP diets than those fed LCP diet, while plasma total protein concentration was not affected by any supplementation. Sheep fed MCP diet had a higher nitrogen retention than those fed LCP and HCP diets. It was concluded that rice straw was utilized better by sheep when SBM and barley were supplemented at the medium level of protein.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.358-363
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• 2011

To investigate the effect of nitrogen fertilization on the quality of tropical grass silage, guinea grass grown with 3 types of nitrogen fertilizers, namely, urea, ammonium sulfate, and compound fertilizer 804, at 2 fertilization levels, 0.5 and 2.5 kg $Na^{-1}$ (0.5 N and 2.5 N, respectively), was subjected to silage fermentation. Silage fertilized with 0.5 N showed butyrate-dominant fermentation, irrespective of the type of fertilizer used. On the other hand, fermentation of silage fertilized with 2.5 N was significantly affected by the type of fertilizer used; fertilization with ammonium sulfate and compound fertilizer 804 resulted in silage that contained a large amount of butyrate and no lactate; this silage was considered to be of a significantly low quality as compared with silage fertilized with 0.5 N. Among silage fertilized with 2.5 N, the desirable butyrate-free fermentation was found only in urea-fertilized silage, which had the best quality. Grass material fertilized with a high level of urea accumulated a relatively high concentration of nitrate nitrogen (0.22% dry matter). Our results presented here suggest that nitrogen fertilizer management could affect the quality of tropical grass silage and that a relatively high concentration of nitrate in silage may promote butyrate-free fermentation even in tropical grass silage.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.389-395
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• 1992

Nutritional status of trace minerals (Se, Cu and Zn) in goats grazed on the native pasture was investigated during 2 years in Luzon Island, Republic of the Philippines. Three regions (South, Central and North) were objected to collect the samples of blood of goats and forages on the pasture. Se content of major species forages in the pasture was $24.7{\mu}g/kg$ DM, and was clearly lower than the value ($200{\mu}g/kg$ DM) required commonly for ruminant feed. The Cu and Zn contents of all forage samples ranged from 7.6 to 24.3 and 11.4 to 50.6 mg/kg DM, respectively, and these values almost exceeded the dietary level required for sheep. The blood Se levels in about 55% of goats grazed alone were under the normal range ($20{\mu}g/l$), but it in goats fed some concentrates as a supplement were almost within a normal ranges ($20-200{\mu}g/l$), though the Cu content of forages almost exceeded the dietary level required commonly. The 4-13% of plasma samples of goats without supplement showed the Zn level below the lower limit (0.6 mg/l) of normal range. The Zn deficiency was mostly improved by the addition of a small amount of concentrates. From these results, it will be necessary to study about unstable Cu status of grazed goats in Luzon Island regarding an interaction of Cu and other elements known to relate to the malabsorption of dietary Cu.