Influence of grain type and oil concentration of dried corn distillers’ grain with solubles on ruminal fermentation and in vitro gas production in cattle fed high-concentrate diets
2018
Keomanivong, Faithe E. | Ruch, Megan C. | Rodenhuis, Mary A. | Crouse, Matthew S. | Kirsch, James D. | Bauer, Marc L. | Borhan, Md S. | Rahman, Shafiqur | Swanson, Kendall C.
To determine the effects of grain type (rolled-corn vs. rolled-barley) and dried corn distillers’ grains with solubles (DDGS) oil concentration (low = 4.5% vs. moderate = 7.9%) on ruminal pH, ammonia (NH₃) and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations, in vitro enteric methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) production, and digestive enzyme activity, eight ruminally cannulated Holstein steers (715 ± 61.4 kg) were used in a 4 × 8 Latin rectangle with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Diets were offered for ad libitum intake. Experimental periods were 24 d with 7 d of diet adaptation, 7 d of sample collection, and a 10 d transition between periods. No differences were observed for ruminal NH₃, total VFA concentration, pH, or in vitro concentration of CH₄ or CO₂ after 24 h of incubation among treatments. The lag time for in vitro gas production and degradation was greater (P = 0.03) from steers fed diets containing rolled-corn than rolled-barley. There were grain type × DDGS interactions (P ≤ 0.02) observed for α-amylase and trypsin activity (U L⁻¹ ruminal fluid). Maltase activity (U L⁻¹ ruminal fluid) was greater (P ≤ 0.01) in steers fed diets containing rolled-corn than rolled-barley and in steers fed diets containing low- compared with moderate-oil DDGS. These results indicate that, although ruminal enzyme activity was influenced, feeding different grain types (rolled-corn vs. rolled-barley) or DDGS with differing oil concentration (moderate vs. low) did not negatively influence ruminal fermentation or in vitro CH₄ production.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by National Agricultural Library