Nutritional Values and <i>In Vitro</i> Fermentation Characteristics of 29 Different Chinese Herbs

The present study evaluated the nutritional values and <i>in vitro</i> fermentation characteristics of 29 different Chinese herbs in order to develop effective feed additives for livestock nutrition. The Chinese herbs were analyzed for their chemical composition. The <i>in vitro</i> fermentation characteristics were evaluated using the gas production technique with swine cecal chyme inoculum. The results showed that the <i>Allium tuberosum Rottl (Semen allii tuberosi</i>, SAT) had the highest gross energy (GE), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), and total amino acid (TAA) contents, whereas <i>Anemones raddeanae Rhizoma (Agstache rugosus</i>, AR) had the highest crude fiber, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber contents compared with the other Chinese herbs. The <i>Rhus chinensis Mill</i> (<i>Chinese gall</i>, CG), <i>Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsl (</i><i>Radix scrophulariae</i>, RS), <i>Punica granatum L (Punica granatum L</i>, PGL), <i>Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz (</i><i>White atractylodes rhizome, WAR), Sanguisorbae radix</i> (<i>Garden burnet,</i> GB)<i>, Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bunge (</i><i>Rhizoma anemarrhenaw</i>, RA), and <i>Rhei radix Et Rhizoma (Rheum officinale,</i> RO) had a higher non-fiber carbohydrate content than the other Chinese herbs. The <i>in vitro</i> fermentation kinetic analysis showed that the RS, WAR, and RA had a higher gas production, a theoretical gas production, and a fractional rate of gas production than the other groups. Furthermore, the RA, WAR, RS, and <i>Crataegi fructus (Crataegus pinnatifida Bun</i>, CPB) had a higher total short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) concentration, and CPB had the highest acetate concentration, whereas the WAR and RS had higher propionate and butyrate concentrations than the other groups. Moreover, the <i>Isatis indigotica Fort (Folium isatidis, FI)</i> and SAT had higher ammonia-N concentration than the other groups. In summary, among the 29 different Chinese herbs, the SAT had the highest nutritional value, which is reflected in the highest contents of GE, CP, EE, and TAA, whereas the RA, WAR, and RS showed better intestinal fermentation profiles, which is reflected in the higher fermentation degree and suitable SCFAs fermentation pattern. These findings provide a theoretical basis for using Chinese herbs as feed additives or microbial carbon sources in the intestines of animals.