Evidence for the inhibition of the terminal step of ruminal alpha-linolenic acid biohydrogenation by condensed tannins.

Effects of condensed tannins (CT), either via extract or plant-bound, and saponin extract on ruminal biohydrogenation of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) were investigated in vitro. Grass-clover hay served as basal diet (control). The control hay was supplemented with extracts contributing either CT from Acacia mearnsii [7.9% of dietary dry matter (DM)] or saponins from Yucca schidigera (1.1% of DM). The fourth treatment consisted of dried sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia), a CT-containing forage legume, in an amount also providing 7.9% CT in dietary DM. All diets were supplemented with linseed oil at a level contributing 60% of total dietary ALA in all treatments. Diets were incubated for 10 d (n = 4) in the rumen simulation technique system, using the last 5 d for statistical evaluation. Fatty acids were analyzed in feed, feed residues, incubation fluid, and its effluent. Data were subjected to ANOVA considering diet and experimental run as main effects. Both CT treatments reduced ruminal fiber and crude protein degradation, and lowered incubation fluid ammonia concentration. Only the CT extract suppressed methane formation and shifted microbial populations toward bacteria at cost of protozoa. The saponin extract remained without clear effects on fermentation characteristics except for increased protozoal counts. The extent of ALA biohydrogenation was 20% less with the CT plant, but this probably resulted from reduced organic matter degradability rather than from an inhibition of biohydrogenation. After incubation analysis of incubation fluid effluent and feed residues showed a considerable proportion of the 3 biohydrogenation intermediates, cis-9, trans-11, cis-15 C18:3, trans-11, cis-15 C18:2, and trans-11 C18:1, which did not occur in the initial feeds. Only the CT-extract diet led to a different profile in the effluent compared with the control diet with trans-11 C18:1 being considerably increased at cost of C18:0. This could have been achieved by suppressing protozoa and enhancing the bacterial population, thus removing potential microbes involved in biohydrogenation and increasing competition between bacteria involved in biohydrogenation and others. The elevation of trans-11 C18:1 as the precursor of cis-9, trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid formed in body tissue and mammary gland is probably favorable from a human health point of view.

Is the intrinsic potassium content of forages an important factor in intake regulation of dairy cows?

Hay from intensively managed grassland with high nutrient density and digestibility containing 29 g potassium/kg dry matter (DM) and hay from an alpine pasture, clearly lower in energy, digestibility and potassium (12 g/kg DM) were offered as sole feeds to 18 lactating dairy cows following a change-over arrangement within three periods of 21 days each (schedule either alpine-lowland-alpine or lowland-alpine-lowland hay). Faeces and urine were quantitatively collected over 7 days. Dry matter intake was similar and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) intake was higher with alpine than with lowland hay (1.57 kg/100 kg vs. 1.43 kg/100 kg body weight). Potassium intake was approximately three times lower with alpine than with lowland hay. Urinary water output was closely correlated with potassium intake. It was also correlated with DM intake but only in animals receiving lowland hay, while it remained independent from intake when alpine hay was fed. Plasma osmolality was lower when alpine hay was fed. As energy requirements were not covered with either diet, the lower NDF intake with lowland hay was assumed to have been caused by higher ruminal osmolality because of the higher intrinsic potassium concentrations of this hay type. Further studies are necessary to determine potassium levels critical for feed intake.

Effect of the tropical tannin-rich shrub legumes Calliandra calothyrsus and Flemingia macrophylla on methane emission and nitrogen and energy balance in growing lambs.

The objective of this study was to test whether the use of tannin-rich shrub legume forage is advantageous for methane mitigation and metabolic protein supply at unchanged energy supply when supplemented in combination with tannin-free legumes to sheep. In a 6 × 6 Latin-square design, foliage of two tannin-rich shrub legume species (Calliandra calothyrsus and Flemingia macrophylla) were used to replace either 1/3 or 2/3, respectively, of a herbaceous high-quality legume (Vigna unguiculata) in a diet composed of the tropical grass Brachiaria brizantha and Vigna in a ratio of 0.55 : 0.45. A Brachiaria-only diet served as the negative control. Each experimental period lasted for 28 days, with week 3 serving for balance measurement and data collection inclusive of a 2-day stay of the sheep in open-circuit respiration chambers for measurement of gaseous exchange. While Vigna supplementation improved protein and energy utilisation, the response to the partial replacement with tannin-rich legumes was less clear. The apparent total tract digestibilities of organic matter, NDF and ADF were reduced when the tannin-rich plants partially replaced Vigna, and the dose-response relationships were mainly linear. The tannin-rich plants caused the expected redistribution of more faecal N in relation to urinary N. While Flemingia addition still led to a net body N retention, even when fed at the higher proportion, adding higher amounts of Calliandra resulted in body protein mobilisation in the growing lambs. With respect to energy, supplementation of Vigna alone improved utilisation, while this effect was absent when a tannin-rich plant was added. The inclusion of the tannin-rich plants reduced methane emission per day and per unit of feed and energy intake by up to 24% relative to the Vigna-only-supplemented diet, but this seems to have been mostly the result of a reduced organic matter and fibre digestion. In conclusion, Calliandra seems less apt as protein supplement for ruminants while Flemingia could partially replace a high-quality legume in tropical livestock systems. However, methane mitigation would be small due to associated reductions in N and energy retention.

Evidence for different nutrient partitioning in Boran (Bos indicus) and Boran x Holstein cows when re-allocated from low to high or from high to low feeding level.

This study tested the hypothesis that purebred Boran (Bos indicus) cows and crossbreds of Boran and Holstein respond differently to long-term changes of feeding level in nutrient partitioning to milk and body fat stores. A total of 27 cows of these two genotypes were subjected either to a low or a high feeding level from their first oestrus as heifers until birth of their third calf. Half of the cows of each genotype were then switched to the other feeding level during the third reproduction cycle. If at all, Boran cows responded to a change in the feeding level almost exclusively by a corresponding change in body weight but not milk yield. Crossbred cows kept continuously on the low feeding level had a lower milk yield than those continuously fed the high level, but lost similar amounts of body weight. In crossbred cows, changing the feeding level from high to low was accompanied by a mobilization of body reserves, whereas a change from low to high level resulted mostly in an increase in milk yield. Certain other genotype differences in metabolic response were obvious from differences in body composition and from the metabolic profile either reflected in blood (particularly insulin-like growth factor I) or in adipose tissue (lipoprotein lipase). Reproductive performance differed between genotypes, with shorter lactations associated with earlier occurrences of the first oestrus in the Boran cows. Generally, feeding history appeared to have at least as much influence on energy partitioning as the actual feeding level. In conclusion, purebred Boran cows seem to react to long-term food fluctuations mainly by mobilizing and restoring body fat reserves, whereas cows crossbred with Holstein tend to spend extra energy preferentially for milk production.

Energy and fibre intake in a group of captive giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) offered increasing amounts of browse.

We investigated the effect of diet on intake of energy and fibre in a group of three captive adult giraffe by weighing offered diet items and leftovers for 7 days after an adaptation period of 7 days. Digestion coefficients were calculated using, as internal marker, the acid detergent lignin content of a faecal sample pooled from subsamples taken during the last 5 days of intake measurement. Two lucerne hay-only diets of differing quality (L1, L2) were fed, as well as the regular diet of lucerne hay and concentrates (L2C), and the regular diet supplemented with 3 or 6 kg of edible, fresh browse material (L2CB3, L2CB6). The proportion of roughage in the ingested diets L2CB6 (45 +/- 5% dry matter), L2CB3 (35 +/- 3%) and L2C (37 +/- 10%) did not differ significantly. Digestible energy intake was low on the hay-only diets [L1: 0.28 +/- 0.06 MJ/kg body weight (BW)0.75; L2: 0.33 +/- 0.10 MJ/kg BW0.75] and increased from L2C (0.60 +/- 0.13 MJ/kg BW0.75) to a significant increase with L2CB3 (0.72 +/- 0.17 MJ/kg BW0.75); no further increase was obvious for L2CB6 (0.63 +/- 0.15MJ/kg BW0.75). The results confirm that giraffes are unlikely to meet energy requirements on lucerne hay-only diets. In a feeding scenario where both lucerne hay and the concentrate component of the diet are fed ad libitum, the animals tended to exchange hay for browse when browse was added. Only the higher level of browse supplementation led to a potentially beneficial increase in fibre intake. Whether additional browse supplementation will lead to increased intakes in a feeding scenario with restricted concentrate provision can be suspected but remains to be demonstrated.

Effect of the carbohydrate composition of feed concentratates on methane emission from dairy cows and their slurry.

Dietary carbohydrate effects on methane emission from cows and their slurry were measured on an individual animal basis. Twelve dairy cows were fed three of six diets each (n = 6 per diet) of a forage-to-concentrate ratio of 1 : 1 (dry matter basis), and designed to cover the cows' requirements. The forages consisted of maize and grass silage, and hay. Variations were exclusively accomplished in the concentrates which were either rich in lignified or non-lignified fiber, pectin, fructan, sugar or starch. To measure methane emission, cows were placed into open-circuit respiration chambers and slurry was stored for 14 weeks in 60-L barrels with slurry being intermittently connected to this system. The enteric and slurry organic matter digestibility and degradation was highest when offering Jerusalem artichoke tubers rich in fructan, while acid-detergent fiber digestibility and degradation were highest in cows and slurries with the soybean hulls diet rich in non-lignified fiber. Multiple regression analysis, based on nutrients either offered or digested, suggested that, when carbohydrate variation is done in concentrate, sugar enhances enteric methanogenesis. The methane emission from the slurry accounted for 16.0 to 21.9% of total system methane emission. Despite a high individual variation, the methane emission from the slurry showed a trend toward lower values, when the diet was characterized by lignified fiber, a diet where enteric methane release also had been lowest. The study disproved the assumption that a lower enteric methanogenesis, associated with a higher excretion of fiber, will inevitably lead to compensatory increases in methane emission during slurry storage.

Effect of calf age and dam breed on intake, energy expenditure, and excretion of nitrogen, phosphorus, and methane of beef cows with calves.

The effects of calf age and dam breeds of different milk yield potential on turnover of energy and nutrients were followed in 16 Simmental and 16 Angus beef cows with Angus-sired calves. Calf ages investigated were 1, 4, 7, and 10 mo. The forage offered for ad libitum access consisted of hay for the calves and of a constant mixture of grass silage, meadow hay, and straw (1:0.7:0.3 on a DM basis) for the cows. Calves of 10 mo of age received an additional 2.6 kg DM/d of crushed barley. The animals were kept in groups of four cows and four calves except in the respiration chambers, where only one cow (tethered) and her calf (loose) were grouped together. Indicator techniques were applied to obtain individual data on feces and urine volumes during group housing. In the Simmental cows, heavier on average by 22 kg, voluntary DMI was higher than in the Angus cows (14.0 vs 12.3 kg/d). In calves, DMI from supplementary feeds was 1.6, 3.9, and 6.3 kg/d, on average, at 4, 7, and 10 mo of age, respectively. Dam breed had no significant effect on DMI and ADG of calves and on BW changes of cows. System retention of energy, N, and P showed a curvilinear development with calf age. System energy expenditure, which linearly increased with calf age, was higher with Simmental than with Angus dams (11%), even when adjusted for metabolic BW (8%). Energy loss through methane linearly increased with NDF intake and, consequently, with calf age from 18 to 30 MJ/d (446 to 751 L/d) for cows and calves together. Similarly, fecal and urinary N excretion and fecal P excretion steadily increased with calf age. In calves, the easily volatile N percentage of manure N rapidly decreased from very high levels in young calves. The resulting changes in inclination to gaseous N loss during manure storage for 8 wk were more than compensated by alterations in N intake of the calves, resulting in an increased total system N loss with progressing lactation. Overall, the present results indicate a difference between Angus and Simmental in efficiency of nutrient and energy utilization that might be explained by the difference in amount of delivery of nutrients to the calves via milk vs forage. Suggestions are made as to how the emissions of N, P, and methane, which were excessive in relation to productivity, could be reduced by nutritional means.

Rumen fermentation and nitrogen balance of lambs fed diets containing plant extracts rich in tannins and saponins, and associated emissions of nitrogen and methane.

Tannins were added to experimental diets at levels of 1 and 2 g/kg DM (hydrolysable tannins; Castanea sativa wood extract) and saponins at 2 and 30 mg/kg DM (sarsaponin; Yucca schidigera extract). These levels were far below thresholds expected to be adverse in ruminants. Effects were measured in lambs by comparison with unsupplemented control diets calculated to be either deficient (10%) or adequate in protein. The diets consisted of hay, concentrate (1:1) and extra wheat starch with increasing body weight. Ruminal pH, VFA concentration, protozoa count and apparent digestibilities of organic matter and fibre did not differ among treatments. The low tannin dose significantly decreased bacteria count compared to the high saponin dose. Saponin supplementation and the high tannin dose showed some potential to reduce ruminal ammonia concentration. This was associated with weak trends towards lower urine N excretion (only tannins) and ammonia emission from manure. Methane release was increased by the low tannin dose compared to the unsupplemented control. Diet effects on heat production were not systematic. In conclusion, the extracts rich in tannins or saponins gave only slight indications for either increased body nitrogen retention or reduced nitrogen emission. However, effects might have been larger with more pronounced dietary protein deficit.