• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.68 no.4
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• pp.392-401
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• 2023

Corn (Zea mays L.) is one of the world's most important crops, along with wheat and rice, with a global corn production expected to reach 1,154.5 million tons in 2023. Considering this grain production, The generation of corn cob is expected to reach approximately 207.8 million tons in 2023. However, as an agricultural by-product, corn cobs are often considered waste and remain underutilized. Phytosterols, which are abundant in vegetable oils such as corn oil, provide a number of health benefits, including liver health, cholesterol reduction, and protection against chronic diseases such as diabetes. In this study, we investigated the potential of Kwangpyeongok ears, which are commonly used as grain and silage corn in Korea. We also examined the variation in phytosterol content with the maturity of corn ears to identify the optimal time for utilization. At the beginning of physiological maturity, corn cobs had 113.3 mg/100g DW of total phytosterols, which was highest phytosterol abundance during the growth stage. Corn kernels also had the highest phytosterol content at the beginning of physiological maturity. While previous studies on corn bioactive compounds have mainly focused on the kernels, the results of this study highlight that cobs are an excellent source of these compounds. Furthermore, phytosterol levels were influenced by genetic factors and developmental stages, suggesting the to increase the use of cobs as a source of bioactive compounds.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.347-354
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• 2004

Four Holstein cows were used in a 4 ${\times}$ 4 Latin square experiment to study effects of fat sources on rumen metabolism and digestibility of nutrients. All cows were fed a total mixed diets containing 60% silage and 40% concentrate. The four concentrates were formulated to contain either Megalac(MEG), formaldehyde-treated whole linseed(LIN), a mixture (50 : 50, oil basis) of fish oil and formaldehyde-treated whole linseed(MIX), or no fat source in the concentrate but 500g per day of linseed oil being infused into the duodemm (OIL). The rumen pH was lowest in OIL among the treatments(P < 0.05), but ammonia N concentration in the rumen was not significantly different among the treatments. The differences of total VFA, acetate, propionate, iso-butyrate and iso-valerate concentrations were not significant among the treatments. While, butyrate and valerate were highest in OIL and lowest in MEG(P < 0.05 and P <0.01, respectively). In addition, A:P ratio was also highest in OIL and lowest in MEG(P < 0.05). As expected, intake of nutrients(DM, OM, NDF and ADF) was lowest in OIL among the treatments(P < 0.01). However, all nutrients flow to the duodenum, and digestion in the rumen and total tract were not significantly different among the treatments. Intake of N was highest in MEG, but lowest in OIL treatment(P < 0.01). Duodenal flow of total N, nonammonia N and microbial N was not significantly different across the treatments. In addition, microbial synthesis and ammonia N and total N digestibility were not affected by different dietary fat sources. The present results show that fermentative characteristic and microbial efficiency in the rumen, and nutrients digestibility in the rumen and total tract were not depressed by supplementation of as much as 6% dietary fat sources.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.441-450
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• 2011

This study was conducted to determine the effects of partial replacement of corn grain and soybean meal with agricultural by-product feeds on in vitro rumen fermentation characteristics and optimum levels of mixing ratio. The agricultural by-products to examine the effectiveness of the partial replacement of concentrate were wheat bran, corn gluten feed, bakery waste, soybean curd, rice bran, green kernel rice, soybean hull, distillers' grain, and mushroom substrate. In the first experiment, in vitro ruminal fermentation characteristics of feedstuffs were evaluated at 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours after incubation. In the second experiment, fermentation characteristics were investigated with green kernel rice and soybean curd which replaced corn grain or soybean meal. Feed were formulated with 40% corn grain + 20% soybean meal (T1), 40% corn grain + 17.5% soybean meal + 2.5% soybean curd (T2), 25% corn grain + 20% soybean meal + 15% green kernel rice (T3), and 30% corn grain + 15% soybean meal + 6% green kernel rice + 9% soybean curd (T4), respectively, with forage source of 10% alfalfa hay, 20% timothy hay, and 10% corn silage as fed-basis. In 24 and 48 hour cultivations, T4 showed significantly lower pH compared to T1, whereas in 3 and 24 hour cultivations, T4 showed significantly higher DM degradation compared to T1. In addition, the gas production of T3 was also higher than T1 (p<0.05). Overall results of the present experiments indicated that green kernel rice and soybean curd as agricultural by-products have the possibility of partial replacements of corn grain and soybean meal.