• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.674-680
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• 2009

The objective of this study was to investigate antimicrobial activity, during the storage period, of animal feed and any effects on in vitro rumen digestion by supplementing different levels (5.55, 11.1, and 22.2 g/kg) of freeze dried citrus peel (FDCP) to the feed compared to untreated feed and feed treated with an antifungal agent (AA) at 0.05 g/kg. In a preservation test, feed supplemented with FDCP showed no deterioration over 21 days. Untreated feed and AA-treated feed, however, showed signs of deterioration after 16 days storage. Yellow colour and red colour, measured by spectro chromameter, decreased in the untreated and AA-treated feeds, but not in feed supplemented with FDCP. Aflatoxin was detected in untreated and AA-treated feeds at 16 days (8 ppb and 2 ppb) and 21 days (8 ppb and 4 ppb), but aflatoxin was not detected in the feed supplemented with FDCP. In a second experiment, fermentation by rumen microorganisms of FDCP (22.2 g/kg) and AA (0.05 g/kg) supplemented feeds was studied in vitro. Feeds were incubated with buffered rumen fluid for 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, and 48 h. Dry matter digestibility (DMD) and organic matter digestibility (OMD) were affected by treatment, but ammonia-N, total, and individual volatile fatty acids (VFA) were not adversely affected by treatment. In conclusion, the results indicated that FDCP might be useful for inhibiting microbial growth of animal feed during storage without disrupting rumen fermentation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.667-673
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• 2014

Eight multiparous Holstein cows ($632{\pm}12$ kg BW; $135{\pm}16$ DIM) were used in a replicated $4{\times}4$ Latin square design to evaluate the effects of forage sources on rumen fermentation characteristics, performance, and microbial protein (MCP) synthesis. The forage portion of the diets contained alfalfa hay (AH), oat hay (OH), Leymus chinensis (LC), or rice straw (RS) as the primary source of fiber. Diets were isonitrogenous and isocaloric, and cows were fed four corn silages based total mixed rations with equivalent nonfiber carbohydrate (NFC) and forage neutral detergent fiber (NDF). Dry matter intake was not affected by the source of dietary forages, ranging from 18.83 to 19.20 kg/d, consequently, milk yield was similar among diets. Because of the numerical differences in milk fat and milk protein concentrations, 4% FCM and ECM yields were unchanged (p>0.05). Mean rumen pH, NH3-N content, and concentrations of volatile fatty acids in the rumen fluid were not affected by the treatments (p>0.05). Dietary treatments did not affect the total tract apparent digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, and crude protein (p>0.05); however, digestibility of NDF and acid detergent fiber in RS diet was higher compared with AH, OH, and LC diets (p<0.05). Total purine derivative excretion was higher in cows fed AH, OH, and LC diets compared with those fed RS diet (p<0.05), consequently, estimated MCP synthesis was 124.35 g/d higher in cows fed AH diet compared with those fed RS diet (p<0.05). The results indicated that cows fed AH, OH, LC, and RS diets with an equivalent forage NDF and NFC have no unfavourable effect on the ruminal fermentation and productive parameters.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.461-473
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• 2017

Total mixed ration (TMR) including concentrate diet and roughage together have been used for the ruminant animal. Relatively high concentrations of moisture and water soluble carbohydrate are representative feature of TMR. Those moisture and water can also provide a niche for bacterial growth. Therefore, a possible fermentation of TMR induced by micro-organism is generally accepted. The present study hypothesized that different lactic acid bacteria could alter fermentation of TMR and subsequently rumen fermentation. Three lactic acid bacteria, Lactobacillus paracasei (A), L. plantarum (B) and L. parabuchneri (C), were employed and 7 treatments under full factorial design were compared with control without inoculation. TMR for dairy cow was used. Significant alterations by treatments were detected at lactic acid and butyric acid contents in TMR (p<0.05). Treatment AC (mixture of A and C) and BC (mixture of B and C) showed great lactate production. Great butyrate production was found at treatment C. At in vitro rumen fermentation, treatments B, C and AB (mixture of A and B) showed significantly great total gas production (p<0.05). All treatments except treatments B and AB, showed less dry matter digestibility, significantly (p<0.05). Total volatile fatty acid production at treatment AC was significantly greater than others (p<0.05). In individual volatile fatty acid production, treatment AB and AC showed great acetate and propionate productions, significantly (p<0.05). This study investigated correlation between organic acid production in TMR and rumen volatile fatty acid production. And it was found that butyric acid in TMR had significant negative correlation with acetate, propionate, total volatile fatty acid, AP ratio and dry matter digestibility.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.1230-1237
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• 2018

Objective: The present study was undertaken to determine an optimal balance between the amount of physically effective neutral detergent fiber (peNDF) to metabolizable glucose (MG) on rumen fermentation, blood metabolites and growth performance of 8 to 10-month-old heifers. Methods: A total of 15 healthy Holstein heifers weighing an average of 256 kg (8 month of age) were randomly assigned to three groups of five. Treatment diets consisted of the following three $peNDF_{8.0}/MG$ levels: 1.46 (Treatment A), 1.74 (Treatment B), and 2.08 (Treatment C). Results: The results showed that the ratio of $peNDF_{8.0}/MG$ affected rumen fermentation, blood metabolites and growth performance of heifers. The average daily gain of heifers tended to decrease as the ratio of $peNDF_{8.0}/MG$ increased (p = 0.07). The concentrations of blood urea nitrogen, triglyceride, and cholesterol increased significantly (p<0.05), while the high-density lipoprotein concentration decreased (p<0.05). After feeding 2 h and 4 h, insulin concentration in Treatment A was greater than Treatment C (p<0.05). Propionate concentration had decreasing trend (p = 0.07); acetate to propionate ratio and non-glucogenic to glucogenic volatile fatty acid (NGR) increased significantly (p<0.05). In addition, the digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber decreased significantly (p<0.05). Conclusion: The present investigation indicated that dietary $peNDF_{8.0}/MG$ ratio can affect the growth and development, blood metabolites, rumen fermentation and apparent digestibility of heifers, and the optimal dietary $peNDF_{8.0}/MG$ ratio for 8 to 10-month-old heifers in the present study was 1.46.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.191-195
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• 1993

The application of fertilizer P to Desmodium intortum at 40, 60 and 100 kg/ha resulted in the P content of the legume regrowth being 0.10, 0.13 and 0.16% on a dry matter basis. When the forages were fed alone to sheep in metabolism pens the corresponding voluntary intakes by sheep of the three forages were 27.3, 42.7 and $54.3g/W_{kg}{^{0.75}}$, respectively. Provision of additional P by rapid infusion into the rumen each morning before any fresh food was offered depressed the voluntary intake of all three feeds. It is suggested that the adverse effect of supplementary P was probably caused by an induced deficiency of either Ca or Mg and led to a reduction in microbial activity in the rumen.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.46-54
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of eucalyptus (E. Camaldulensis) crude oils (EuO) supplementation on voluntary feed intake and rumen fermentation characteristics in swamp buffaloes. Four rumen fistulated swamp buffaloes, body weight (BW) of $420{\pm}15.0$ kg, were randomly assigned according to a $2{\times}2$ factorial arrangement in a $4{\times}4$ Latin square design. The dietary treatments were untreated rice straw (RS) without EuO (T1) and with EuO (T2) supplementation, and 3% urea-treated rice straw (UTRS) without EuO (T3) and with EuO (T4) supplementation. The EuO was supplemented at 2 mL/h/d in respective treatment. Experimental animals were kept in individual pens and concentrate mixture was offered at 3 g/kg BW while roughage was fed ad libitum. Total dry matter and roughage intake, and apparent digestibilites of organic matter and neutral detergent fiber were improved (p<0.01) by UTRS. There was no effect of EuO supplementation on feed intake and nutrient digestibility. Ruminal pH and temperature were not (p>0.05) affected by either roughage sources or EuO supplementation. However, buffaloes fed UTRS had higher ruminal ammonia nitrogen and blood urea nitrogen as compared with RS. Total volatile fatty acid and butyrate proportion were similar among treatments, whereas acetate was decreased and propionate molar proportion was increased by EuO supplementation. Feeding UTRS resulted in lower acetate and higher propionate concentration compared to RS. Moreover, supplementation of EuO reduced methane production especially in UTRS treatment. Protozoa populations were reduced by EuO supplementation while fungi zoospores remained the same. Total, amylolytic and cellulolytic bacterial populations were increased (p<0.01) by UTRS; However, EuO supplementation did not affect viable bacteria. Nitrogen intake and in feces were found higher in buffaloes fed UTRS. A positive nitrogen balance (absorption and retention) was in buffaloes fed UTRS. Supplementation of EuO did not affect nitrogen utilization. Both allantoin excretion and absorption and microbial nitrogen supply were increased by UTRS whereas efficiency of microbial protein synthesis was similar in all treatments. Findings of present study suggested that EuO could be used as a feed additive to modify the rumen fermentation in reducing methane production both in RS and UTRS. Feeding UTRS could improve feed intake and efficiency of rumen fermentation in swamp buffaloes. However, more research is warranted to determine the effect of EuO supplementation in production animals.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1569-1574
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• 2005

The in situ nylon bag degradation and in vitro intestinal digestibility of dry matter (DM), and crude protein (CP) of mulberry (Morus alba) plant fractions was studied at four harvest stages, 3 (W3), 5 (W5), 7 (W7) and 9 (W9) weeks. Degradability of DM and CP of the whole plant and stem fractions declined significantly (p<0.01) with advancing plant maturity in the order W3>W5 and W7>W9 and W3>W5>W7>W9, respectively. The degradation of DM and CP of the leaf fraction was also influenced by plant maturity but no trend was observed. The degradation of DM and CP of the whole plant and leaves increased rapidly during the first 48 and 24 h of incubation, respectively, when maximum degradation was reached. In vitro intestinal digestibility of CP was more influenced by the residence time in the rumen than by plant maturity. This study showed that mulberry is suitable as a supplement, particularly to low-quality roughages, in providing a source of rapidly available nitrogen to the rumen microbes, hence improving the roughage degradability and intake.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.655-665
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• 1996

The effects of feeding rice bran and beet pulp mixtures on the site and extent of digestion and microbial synthesis in fattening steers were studied. Three Holstein steers fitted with ruminal, duodenal and ileal cannulas were fed four diets in a $4{\times}3$ Youden square design. The four diets consisted of 15% Italian ryegrass hay and 85% concentrate as a control diet which included 72% rolled barley, 20% rice bran plus 40% beet pulp, 30% rice bran plus 30% beet pulp or 40% rice bran plus 20% beet pulp. All diets provided 1.8 times digestible energy required for maintenance. The digestibility of fat in the small intestine (% of flow) showed an increase with rice bran content among the by-product diets. Digestibility of structural carbohydrate both in the rumen and the whole digestive tract decreased linearly with rice bran content. The digestibility of nonstructural carbohydrate was not affected by rice bran content, but that of nonstructural, nonstarch polysaccharides was higher in the rumen and lower in the large intestine for the by-product diets than for the control diet. A rice bran content of more than 30% in the by-product diets severely inhibits ruminal microbial synthesis and digestible energy intake in fattening steers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.335-342
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• 1994

This study was undertaken at Gowa, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, as part of a larger forage genetic resource evaluation project. The experimental program consisted of a field experiment where grass and legume species were grown in monocultures and the dry matter yield, rumen bag digestibility (RBDMD) and N content of leaf and stem components were monitored in the wet and dry seasons. Eight species of grass (Brachiaria decwnbens cv. Basilisk. Panicum maximum cv. Riversdale, Urochloa pullulans CPI 41192, Imperata cylindrica from Maiwa, South Sulawesi, Digitaria milanjiana CPI 41193, Cenchrus ciliaris cv. Malopo, Heteropogon contorlus and Setaria sphacelata cv. Splenda) were studied. P. maximum was the highest yielding grass in the wet season and B. decumbens in the dry season. The highest RBDMD in the whole plants were U. pulluians, P. maximum, S. sphacelata and D. milanjiana after 2 weeks regrowth in cycle I and S. sphacelata, B. decumbens, D. milanjiana and C. ciliaris in cycle 2. When total digestible DM was calculated for the whole of cycle I, P. maximum, B. decumbens and S. sphacelata were superior, but B. decumbens produced over twice as much as the other species in the dry season (cycle 2). The leaf N concentration of all grasses exceeded 1.0% (6.25% crude protein) in the regrowth in cycle I but did not exceed 0.5% in the dry season regrowth (cycle 2).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.410-416
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• 2010

Methane emitted from ruminant livestock is regarded as a loss of feed energy and also a contributor to global warming. Methane is synthesized in the rumen as one of the hydrogen sink products that are unavoidable for efficient succession of anaerobic microbial fermentation. Various attempts have been made to reduce methane emission, mainly through rumen microbial manipulation, by the use of agents including chemicals, antibiotics and natural products such as oils, fatty acids and plant extracts. A newer approach is the development of vaccines against methanogenic bacteria. While ionophore antibiotics have been widely used due to their efficacy and affordable prices, the use of alternative natural materials is becoming more attractive due to health concerns regarding antibiotics. An important feature of a natural material that constitutes a possible alternative methane inhibitor is that the material does not reduce feed intake or digestibility but does enhance propionate that is the major hydrogen sink alternative to methane. Some implications of these approaches, as well as an introduction to antibiotic-alternative natural materials and novel approaches, are provided.