• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1728-1735
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• 2008

The present study was conducted with four ruminally canulated Holstein cows to observe the effects of monensin or fish oil on diet fermentation and production of conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs) in the rumen when fed diets supplemented with soybean oil and sodium bicarbonate. Cows of the control treatment were fed a basal diet (CON) consisting of 60% commercial concentrate and 40% chopped rye grass hay. Cows of other treatments were fed the same diet as CON, but the concentrate was supplemented with 7% of soybean oil and 0.5% of sodium bicarbonate (SO-B), SO-B supplemented with monensin (30 ppm, SO-BM) or concentrate supplemented with 6.3% of soybean oil, 0.5% of sodium-bicarbonate, 30 ppm of monensin and 0.7% of fish oil (SO-BMF). Dry matter (DM) intake of the cows was significantly (p<0.011) reduced by feeding the SO-BMF diet compared to the other diets which did not differ in DM intake. Whole tract digestibility of major dietary components was significantly (p<0.004-0.027) higher for SO-BMF than the other supplement-containing diets. Dietary supplements did not clearly affect rumen pH and ammonia concentrations compared to the CON diet. Significantly reduced (p<0.05) total VFA concentration was obtained by the addition of fish oil to the diet (SO-BMF) compared to other diets. No differences, however, were obtained in major VFA proportions as well as in total VFA between the supplemented diets. The SO-BM diet increased (p<0.01-0.05) the concentrations of trans-11 $C_{18:1}$ and linoleic acid in rumen fluid. Total CLA concentration was also increased by the feeding of SO-B and SO-BM diets during early fermentation times (up to 3 h) post-feeding. Cis-9, trans-11 CLA concentration in rumen fluid was highest (p<0.05) for SO-B up to 1 h while the highest (p<0.01) value for SO-BM occurred at 3 h post-feeding. An increased trans-10, cis-12 CLA concentration was obtained from the SO-B and SO-BM diets at 1 and 3 h post feeding compared to the other diets. Supplementation of oils with monensin and sodium bicarbonate increased (p<0.05) the proportions of $C_{18:1}$ and CLA in the plasma of cows, but the effect of monensin and/or fish oil was limited to trans-10, cis-12 CLA.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.504-520
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• 2020

Proliferation of shrubs at the expense of native forage in pastures has been associated with large changes in dry-matter intake and dietary components for grazing ruminants. These changes can also affect the animals' physiology and metabolism. However, little information is available concerning the effect of pastoral-shrub grazing on the rumen bacterial community. To explore rumen bacteria composition in grazing yaks and the response of rumen bacteria to increasing shrub coverage in alpine meadows, 48 yak steers were randomly assigned to four pastures with shrub coverage of 0%, 5.4%, 11.3%, and 20.1% (referred as control, low, middle, and high, respectively), and ruminal fluid was collected from four yaks from each pasture group after 85 days. Rumen fermentation products were measured and microbiota composition determined using Ion S5™ XL sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) and similarity analysis indicated that the degree of shrub coverage correlated with altered rumen bacterial composition of yaks grazing in alpine shrub meadows. At the phyla level, the relative abundance of Firmicutes in rumen increased with increasing shrub coverage, whereas the proportions of Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria and Verrucomicrobia decreased. Yaks grazing in the high shrub-coverage pasture had decreased species of the genus Prevotellaceae UCG-001, Lachnospiraceae XPB1014 group, Lachnospiraceae AC2044 group, Lachnospiraceae FCS020 group and Fretibacterium, but increased species of Christensenellaceae R-7 group, Ruminococcaceae NK4A214 group, Ruminococcus 1, Ruminococcaceae UCG-002, Ruminococcaceae UCG-005 and Lachnospiraceae UCG-008. These variations can enhance the animals' utilization efficiencies of cellulose and hemicellulose from native forage. Meanwhile, yaks grazed in the high shrub-coverage pasture had increased concentrations of ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) and branched-chain volatile fatty acids (isobutyrate and isovalerate) in rumen compared with yaks grazing in the pasture without shrubs. These results indicate that yaks grazing in a high shrub-coverage pasture may have improved dietary energy utilization and enhanced resistance to cold stress during the winter. Our findings provide evidence for the influence of shrub coverage on the rumen bacterial community of yaks grazing in alpine meadows as well as insights into the sustainable production of grazing yaks on lands with increasing shrub coverage on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

• 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.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.343-350
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• 2015

Cocoa pod is among the by-products of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) plantations. The aim of this study was to apply a number of treatments in order to improve nutritional quality of cocoa pod for feeding of ruminants. Cocoa pod was subjected to different treatments, i.e. C (cocoa pod without any treatment or control), CAm (cocoa pod+1.5% urea), CMo (cocoa pod+3% molasses), CRu (cocoa pod+3% rumen content) and CPh (cocoa pod+3% molasses+Phanerochaete chrysosporium inoculum). Analysis of proximate and Van Soest's fiber fraction were performed on the respective treatments. The pods were then subjected to an in vitro digestibility evaluation by incubation in rumen fluid-buffer medium, employing a randomized complete block design (n = 3 replicates). Further, an in vivo evaluation of the pods (35% inclusion level in total mixed ration) was conducted by feeding to young Holstein steers (average body weight of $145{\pm}3.6kg$) with a $5{\times}5$ latin square design arrangement (n = 5 replicates). Each experimental period lasted for 30 d; the first 20 d was for feed adaptation, the next 3 d was for sampling of rumen liquid, and the last 7 d was for measurements of digestibility and N balance. Results revealed that lignin content was reduced significantly when cocoa pod was treated with urea, molasses, rumen content or P. chrysosporium (p<0.01) with the following order of effectiveness: CPh>CAm>CRu>CMo. Among all treatments, CAm and CPh treatments significantly improved the in vitro dry matter and organic matter digestibility (p<0.05) of cocoa pod. Average daily gain of steers receiving CAm or CPh treatment was significantly higher than that of control (p<0.01) with an increase of 105% and 92%, respectively. Such higher daily gain was concomitant with higher N retention and proportion of N retention to N intake in CAm and CPh treatments than those of control (p<0.05). It can be concluded from this study that treatment with either urea or P. chrysosporium is effective in improving the nutritive value of cocoa pod.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.1590-1598
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• 2020

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of lysophospholipids (LPL) supplementation on rumen fermentation, degradability, and microbial diversity in forage with high oil diet in an in vitro system. Methods: Four experimental treatments were used: i) annual ryegrass (CON), ii) 93% annual ryegrass +7% corn oil on a dry matter (DM) basis (OiL), iii) OiL with a low level (0.08% of dietary DM) of LPL (LLPL), and iv) OiL with a high level (0.16% of dietary DM) of LPL (HLPL). An in vitro fermentation experiment was performed using strained rumen fluid for 48 h incubations. In vitro DM degradability (IVDMD), in vitro neutral detergent fiber degradability, pH, ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N), volatile fatty acid (VFA), and microbial diversity were estimated. Results: There was no significant change in IVDMD, pH, NH₃-N, and total VFA production among treatments. The LPL supplementation significantly increased the proportion of butyrate and valerate (Linear effect [Lin], p = 0.004 and <0.001, respectively). The LPL supplementation tended to increase the total bacteria in a linear manner (p = 0.089). There were significant decreases in the relative proportions of cellulolytic (Fibrobacter succinogenes and Ruminococcus albus) and lipolytic (Anaerovibrio lipolytica and Butyrivibrio proteoclasticus) bacteria with increasing levels of LPL supplementation (Lin, p = 0.028, 0.006, 0.003, and 0.003, respectively). Conclusion: The LPL supplementation had antimicrobial effects on several cellulolytic and lipolytic bacteria, with no significant difference in nutrient degradability (DM and neutral detergent fiber) and general bacterial counts, suggesting that LPL supplementation might increase the enzymatic activity of rumen bacteria. Therefore, LPL supplementation may be more effective as an antimicrobial agent rather than as an emulsifier in the rumen.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.201-205
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• 2009

Effects of Cordyceps militaris mycelia on rumen microbial fermentation were determined by measuring in vitro gas production, cellulose digestion and VFA concentrations. C. militaris mycelia was added to buffered rumen fluid with final concentrations of 0.00, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25 and 0.30 g/L and incubation times were for 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 72 h. At all incubation times, the gas production showed a quadratic increase with the supplementation of C. militaris mycelia; maximum responses were seen with 0.25 g/L supplementation. However, the gas production was significantly lower for the 0.30 g/L supplementation than for the 0.25 g/L supplementation from 9 h to 72 h incubation. The cellulose filter paper (FP) digestion showed a quadratic increase, as did the gas production except at 3 h incubation. The concentration of total VFA was significantly increased by the supplementation of C. militaris mycelia compared with the control treatment; the highest response was also seen with 0.25 g/L supplementation. This was true for responses in the concentration of acetic and propionic acids. As opposed to other responses, the responses of pH to the supplementation of C. militaris mycelia showed a quadratic decrease from 3 h to 36 h incubation. In conclusion, C. militaris mycelia alter the mixed rumen microbial fermentation with increases in the production of gas and VFA, and cellulose FP digestion.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.471-478
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• 2011

The objectives were to compare the ability of various rumen microbial fractions to reduce nitrate and to assess the effect of nitrate on in vitro fermentation characteristics. Physical and chemical methods were used to differentiate the rumen microbial population into the following fractions: whole rumen fluid (WRF), protozoa (Pr), bacteria (Ba), and fungi (Fu). The three nitrogen substrate treatments were as follows: no supplemental nitrogen source, nitrate or urea, with the latter two being isonitrogenous additions. The results showed that during 24 h incubation, WRF, Pr and Ba fractions had an ability to reduce nitrate, and the rate of nitrate disappearance for the Pr fraction was similar to the WRF fraction, while the Ba fraction needed an adaptation period of 12 h before rapid nitrate disappearance. The WRF fraction had the greatest methane ($CH_4$) production and the Pr fraction had the greatest prevailing $H_2$ concentration (p<0.05). Compared to the urea treatment, nitrate diminished net gas and $CH_4$ production during incubation (p<0.05), and ammonia-N ($NH_3$-N) concentration (p<0.01). Nitrate also increased acetate, decreased propionate and decreased butyrate molar proportions (p<0.05). The Pr fraction had the highest acetate to propionate ratio (p<0.05). The Pr fraction as well as the Ba fraction appears to have an important role in nitrate reduction. Nitrate did not consistently alter total VFA concentration, but it did shift the VFA profile to higher acetate, lower propionate and lower butyrate molar proportions, consistent with less $CH_4$ production by all microbial fractions.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.143-147
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• 1979

Eight Holstein cows weighing 419-673kg with 2 to 10 years of age were allocated into two groups, four animals each, to study the effect of feeding urea and urea plus Zeolite on rumen pH and the population of rumen ciliates. Rumen fluid samples were taken after morning feed for 7 times at one hour intervals. Experimental results obtained were as follows; 1. Rumen pH was gradually dropped from 7.272 to 7.163 by 3.01 hour and from 7.18 to 7.07 by 2.87 hour and reached 7.352 and 7.29 at 7 hour after feeding, respectively on urea and urea plus Zeolite feeding group. 2. Total ciliate numbers decreased from 209,540 to 113,755 by 4.311 hour and from 381,430 to 203.125 by 4.406 hour and gradually increased to 151,030 and 265,230 by 7 hour after feeding, respectively on urea and urea plus Zeolite feeding group. 3. Population of ruminal ciliates was not changed and Entodinium simplex was the major ciliate population for both treatments. It was from 81.21 to 89.12% on urea feeding group and from 84.6 to 88.3% of total number of ciliates on urea plus Zeolite feeding group.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.741-748
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• 2018

This study was conducted to evaluate the nutritional value of total mixed rations (TMR) containing rice grain in an in vitro rumen fermentation system. Three types of grains (corn, wheat, and rice), timothy, and soybean meal (SBM) were used to prepare the experimental TMR: Corn TMR, Wheat TMR, and Rice TMR. The rumen fermentation characteristics of all the experimental TMRs were evaluated by an in vitro anaerobic system using rumen fluid for 24 and 48 h. The digestibility of the nutrients (dry matter [DM], crude protein [CP], and neutral detergent fiber [NDF]), pH, ammonia ($NH_3-N$), and volatile fatty acids (VFA) were determined. Rice TMR showed a higher DM digestibility than that of the Corn TMR at 48 h (p < 0.05). In all treatments, the CP digestibility was more than 80% at 48 h, but no significant differences were observed among the treatments. The NDF digestibility tended to be the lowest in the Wheat TMR (p = 0.06), and the pH tended to be the lowest in the Rice TMR (p = 0.09) among the treatments for the 48 h incubation. The Wheat TMR had the highest $NH_3-N$ concentration among the treatments (p < 0.01). Rice TMR had a lowest total VFA concentration among the treatments (p = 0.05) at 24 h, but no significant differences were observed at 48 h. Based on this in vitro result, it was considered that a rice grain has the potential to replace conventional grain ingredients when the TMR was formulated.