• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1749-1754
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• 2006

Two slaughter experiments were conducted to determine the effects of rumen escape starch, by altering dietary starch concentration and corn particle size, on ${\alpha}$-amylase activity in the pancreas and the small intestinal digesta of lambs. In experiment 1, 18 wether lambs (28.5${\pm}$1.6 kg) were fed low, medium or high starch diets for 35 d and slaughtered. Dietary starch concentrations linearly increased rumen escape starch (p<0.05). Pancreatic ${\alpha}$-amylase activity was lower (p<0.05) in lambs fed the low starch diet. When expressed per gram of digesta, ${\alpha}$-amylase activity was lower in lambs fed the low starch diet. However, expressed as total activity, ${\alpha}$-amylase in the digesta was greater in lambs fed the medium starch diet. In experiment 2, 12 wether lambs (23.5${\pm}$0.3 kg) were fed diets with finely cracked corn, coarsely cracked corn and whole corn. These dietary treatments continued for 35 d before tissue collection. Rumen escape starch increased with increasing corn particle size (p<0.05). ${\alpha}$-amylase activity in the pancreas and the small intestinal digesta was significantly greater (p<0.05) in lambs fed the coarsely cracked corn. These data suggest that increasing rumen escape starch results in a quadratic increase in total ${\alpha}$-amylase activity in the pancreas and the small intestinal digesta. Maximum ${\alpha}$-amylase activity is reached when rumen escape starch is about 100-120 g/d in 25-30 kg lambs.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.113-122
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• 2015

An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of Kalopanax pictus Nakai (Kalopanax) on in vitro rumen fermentation and methane (CH4) reduction. Kalopanax trunk was extracted with 70% ethanol and 70% methanol. Rumen fluid, alfalfa hay and buffer (control: C) supplemented with 0.3% Kalopanx juice (T1), 0.3% ethanol extract (T2) and 0.3% methanol extract (T3) in the total volume of culture medium were incubated at $38^{\circ}C$ for 24h and 48h. Rumen pH was lower in all Kalopanax treatments during all incubations than that in control (p<0.05). Total VFA and total gas production in T2 and T3 was significantly higher than that in C at 48h incubation (p<0.05). Ammonia-N was decreased in all treatments compared with C during the incubation periods (p<0.05). At 24h incubation, $CH_4$ contents were significantly reduced by both alcohol extracts. It is concluded that supplementing Kalopanax extracts can stimulate ruminal fermentation of rumen microorganisms and inhibit methanogenesis.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2017

This research was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding high and low forage diets with different forage sources on rumen fermentation characteristics and blood parameters of Holstein cows during the dry period. Eight Holstein cows were completely randomized assigned to two groups and repeated measurement was utilized in the analysis. Cows in two treatments were fed with diets with high (F:C = 70:30, 70F; forage source: mixed-sowing whole crop barley and Italian ryegrass silage, BIRG) and low (F:C = 55:45, 55F; forage source: tall fescue hay, TF) forage level. Rumen fluid pH was higher in 70F group. Levels of acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid showed a similar pattern: from the lowest value at 07:30 h to the highest at 10:30 h and then decreased in both groups. The ratio of acetic acid to propionic acid was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in 55F group at 09:30 and 10:30 h. Rumen fluid $NH_3-N$ concentrations were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in 70F group at 09:30 and 10:30 h. Blood urea nitrogen was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in 70F group. It was concluded that BIRG based diet with a high forage level had no adverse effects on rumen fermentation, some blood chemical parameters, and immune system in dry Holstein cows and could be used as a forage source instead of imported TF.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.92-102
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• 2019

Objective: To investigate changes in rumen fermentation characteristics and bacterial community by a sudden change to a high concentrate diet (HC) in Korean domestic ruminants. Methods: Major Korean domestic ruminants (each of four Hanwoo cows; $545.5{\pm}33.6kg$, Holstein cows; $516.3{\pm}42.7kg$, and Korean native goats; $19.1{\pm}1.4kg$) were used in this experiment. They were housed individually and were fed ad libitum with a same TMR (800 g/kg timothy hay and 200 g/kg concentrate mix) twice daily. After two-week feeding, only the concentrate mix was offered for one week in order to induce rapid rumen acidosis. The rumen fluid was collected from each animals twice (on week 2 and week 3) at 2 h after morning feeding using an oral stomach tube. Each collected rumen fluid was analyzed for pH, volatile fatty acid (VFA), and $NH_3-N$. In addition, differences in microbial community among ruminant species and between normal and an acidosis condition were assessed using two culture-independent 16S polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based techniques (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism and quantitative real-time PCR). Results: The HC decreased ruminal pH and altered relative concentrations of ruminal VFA (p<0.01). Total VFA concentration increased in Holstein cows only (p<0.01). Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism and real-time quantitative PCR analysis using culture-independent 16S PCR-based techniques, revealed rumen bacterial diversity differed by species but not by HC (p<0.01); bacterial diversity was higher in Korean native goats than that in Holstein cows. HC changed the relative populations of rumen bacterial species. Specifically, the abundance of Fibrobacter succinogenes was decreased while Lactobacillus spp. and Megasphaera elsdenii were increased (p<0.01). Conclusion: The HC altered the relative populations, but not diversity, of the ruminal bacterial community, which differed by ruminant species.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.879-890
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• 2023

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the use of Megasphaera elsdenii (M. elsdenii) as a probiotic on rumen fermentation, production performance, carcass traits and health of ruminants by integrating data from various related studies using meta-analysis. Methods: A total of 32 studies (consisted of 136 data points) were obtained and integrated into a database. The parameters integrated were fermentation products, rumen microbes, production performance, carcass quality, animal health, blood and urine metabolites. Statistical analysis of the compiled database used a mixed model methodology. Different studies were considered random effects, while M. elsdenii supplementation doses were considered fixed effects. p-values and the Akaike information criterion were employed as model statistics. The model was deemed significant at p<0.05 or had a tendency to be significant when p-value between 0.05<p<0.10. Results: Supplementation with M. elsdenii increased (p<0.05) some proportion of fermented rumen products such as propionate, butyrate, isobutyrate, and valerate, and significantly reduced (p<0.05) lactic acid concentration, acetate proportion, total bacterial population and methane emission. Furthermore, the probiotic supplementation enhanced (p<0.05) livestock production performance, especially in the average daily gain and body condition score. Regarding the carcass quality, hot carcass weight and carcass gain were elevated (p< 0.05) due to the M. elsdenii supplementation. Animal health also showed improvement as indicated by the lower (p<0.05) diarrhoea and bloat incidences as well as the liver abscess. However, M. elsdenii supplementation had negligible effects on blood and urine metabolites of ruminants. Conclusion: Supplementation of M. elsdenii is capable of decreasing ruminal lactic acid concentration, enhancing rumen health, elevating some favourable rumen fermentation products, and in turn, increasing production performance of ruminants.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.957-963
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• 2021

The study aimed to investigate the effects of supplemented sodium butyrate on the in vitro rumen fermentation and growth performance of Hanwoo calves. In total, four treatments were employed according to the sodium butyrate levels: no addition (control), an addition of 0.1% (treatment 1), an addition of 0.3% (treatment 2), and an addition of 0.5% (treatment 3). After 48 hours of fermentation, the ruminal pH was found to be higher in T1 than in C. Total volatile fatty acids were significantly higher in T2 and T3 than in C. The ratio of acetate and propionate was significantly lower in T1 and T3 than in C. In this study, the optimal concentration to promote rumen fermentation was found to be 0.3%, i.e., T2, and an experiment on Hanwoo calves at a farm was conducted. However, there were no significant differences between the treatment groups in terms of the daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio, and final body weight in the feeding experiment. Also, there were no significant differences in the body length, withers height, and height at hip cross between the control and the treatment groups. The addition of 0.3% sodium butyrate was most effective at promoting in vitro rumen fermentation, but it did not significantly affect the growth performance when fed to Hanwoo calves. This indicates that the addition of sodium butyrate improved rumen fermentation but did not have a growth-promoting effect. Future studies need to compare growth and carcass performance outcomes to confirm long-term effects.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.127-137
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• 2024

This study was conducted to investigate effect of corn flake and corn ground on nutrient digestibility and fermentation characteristics of rumen in Hanwoo. The animals used were three Hanwoo cows implanted with ruminal fistula. Corn were categorized in 2 groups based on the corn processing method: Ground and Flake. The rumen digestibility of dry matter, starch, nitrogen free extract and non fiber carbohydrates were increased in flake compared to ground from 3 to 24 hours of incubation(P<0.05). The pH of rumen was lower in the flaked treatment than ground treatment at 3 hours after incubation, but average pH was no significantly difference between treatments. The average acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid were significantly increased in the flaked treatments compared to the ground treatment (P<0.05). Thus, flake processing can improve the carbohydrate availability of corn in the rumen and increase feed value.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.651-658
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• 2009

Four multiparous lactating Holstein cows fitted with rumen cannulae were fed diets varying in the amount and source of rumen-degradable carbohydrates (starch vs. sucrose) to examine their effects on rumen fermentation, nitrogen metabolism and lactation performance. A $4{\times}4$ Latin square with four diets and four periods of 28 days each was employed. Corn starch and sucrose were added to diets and corn starch was replaced with sucrose at 0 (0 S), 2.5 (2.5 S), 5.0 (5.0 S) 7.5% (7.5 S) of diet dry matter in a total mixed ration (TMR) containing 60% concentrate and 40% forage (DM basis). Replacing corn starch with sucrose did not affect (p>0.05) ruminal pH which averaged 6.41, but the ruminal pH for 7.5 S decreased more rapidly at 2 h after morning feeding compared with other treatments. Sucrose reduced ($p{\leq}0.05$) ruminal $NH_3-N$ concentration (13.90 vs. 17.09 mg/dl) but did not affect peptide-N concentration. There was no dietary effect on total volatile fatty acids (110.53 mmol/L) or the acetate to propionate ratio (2.72). No differences (p>0.05) in molar proportion of most of the individual VFA were found among diets, except for the molar proportion of butyrate that was increased ($p{\leq}0.05$) with the inclusion of sucrose. Total branched chain volatile fatty acids tended to increase ($p{\geq}0.051$) for the control treatment (0 S) compared with the 7.5 S treatment. Dry matter intake, body weight changes and digestibility of DM, OM, CP, NDF and ADF were not affected by treatments. Sucrose inclusion in the total mixed ration did not affect milk yield, but increased milk fat and total solid percentage ($p{\leq}0.05$). Sucrose tended ($p{\geq}0.063$) to increase milk protein percentage (3.28 vs. 3.05) and reduced ($p{\leq}0.05$) milk urea nitrogen concentration (12.75 vs. 15.48 mg/dl), suggesting a more efficient utilization of the rapidly available nitrogen components in the diet and hence improving nitrogen metabolism in the rumen.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.366-371
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• 2010

Twelve Suffolk${\times}$Small-tail-Han male sheep (body weight 21-26 kg), aged four months, were used to study the effects of volatile fatty acids (VFA) on IGF-I (insulin-like growth factor-I), IGFBP-3 (insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3), GH (growth hormone), insulin and glucagon in plasma, and IGF-I and IGFBP-3 in different tissues. The sheep were randomly divided into four groups with 3 sheep in each group. The sheep were sustained by total intragastric infusions and four levels of mixed VFA (the molar proportion of acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid was 65:25:10), which supplied 333, 378, 423 and 468 KJ energy/kg $W^{0.75}$/d, were infused into the rumen as experimental Treatments I, II, III and IV, respectively. The experiment lasted 12 days, of which the first 8 days were for pretreatment and the last 4 days for collection of samples. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were taken and then the sheep were slaughtered and tissue samples from the rumen ventral sac, rumen dorsal sac, liver, duodenum and Longissimus dorsi muscle were obtained. IGF-I, IGFBP-3, GH, insulin and glucagon in plasma and IGF-I and IGFBP-3 in different tissues were analysed. Results showed that the concentration of IGF-I, IGFBP-3, GH, insulin or glucagon in plasma and the content of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 in the rumen dorsal sac, rumen ventral sac, liver or Longissimus dorsi muscle were increased with VFA infusion level (p<0.05). No significant differences were found in duodenum IGF-I between Treatments I and II and in rumen dorsal sac IGFBP-3 between Treatments II and III (p>0.05). It was concluded that IGF-I, IGFBP-3, GH, insulin and glucagon in plasma and IGF-I and IGFBP-3 in rumen dorsal sac, rumen ventral sac, liver and Longissimus dorsi muscle were increased significantly with increasing level of ruminal infusion of mixed VFA.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.255-264
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• 2008

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of rumen protected choline on in vitro ruminal fermentation and milk production and its composition in Holstein cows. Experiments were done with three treatment groups, basal diet without any supplement (T1), basal diet+23g/d of mixture of choline and wheat shorts (T2) and basal diet + 25.56 g/d of rumen protected choline (T3). The in vitro ruminal pH and ammonia concentrations were similar for three treatments during all incubation periods except for the in vitro ruminal pH on 3 hr incubation and ammonia concentrations on 9 hr incubation. No significant difference was found in the concentrations of acetate and total-VFA. The propionate and butyrate concentrations were not affected by the rumen protected choline except on 6 hr incubation on which the propionate and butyrate concentrations were intermediate (8.98 mg/dl) and least (3.22 mg/dl), respectively. Higher milk yield and milk fat and lactose were resulted in the rumen protected choline. However, the rumen protected choline did not affect the milk protein, solids not fat, total solids, MUN, somatic cell count. It is concluded that the rumen protected choline can be effective materials to improve the milk production, milk fat and lactose without little change on in vitro ruminal fermentation.