Rumen degradation kinetics of coffee hulls treated with calcium oxide under aerobic or anaerobic conditions / Cinética de degradación ruminal de la cascarilla de café tratada con óxido de calcio en condiciones de aerobiosis o anaerobiosis / Cinética de degradação ruminal da casca de café tratada com óxido de cálcio em condição de aerobiose ou anaerobiose

Abstract Background: Coffee hulls obtained from dry processing, have the potential to be used in ruminant diets. Objective: To evaluate the chemical composition and in situ degradability of dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) of coffee hulls treated with calcium oxide (CaO) in different environmental conditions (EC). Methods: Coffee hulls were subjected to treatments distributed in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, consisting of two levels of CaO (0 and 5%, on a DM basis) and two environmental conditions (aerobiosis and anaerobiosis) in a completely randomized design with four replicates, totaling sixteen experimental units. Five-gram samples were incubated in the rumen of two male cattle for 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 h. Results: Regarding dry matter degradation kinetic parameters, except for fraction b, the potential and effective degradability was affected (p<0.05) by a CaO × EC interaction. As for estimated fiber degradation parameters, the potentially degradable fraction b was affected (p<0.05) by CaO and EC. Treatment with CaO increased fraction b in 4.08 percentage points. Conclusions: The use of CaO in the treatment of coffee hulls increases the effective and potential degradability of DM and reduces the undegradable fiber fraction. Anaerobic condition is the best environment for the treatment of coffee hulls with CaO.

Resumen Antecedentes: la cáscara de café obtenida por procesamiento en seco presenta potencial de uso en la alimentación de rumiantes. Objetivo: Evaluar la composición química, la degradabilidad in situ de la materia seca (DM) y de la fibra detergente neutra (NDF) de la cascara de café tratada con óxido de calcio (CaO) en diferentes condiciones ambientales (EC). Métodos: la cáscara de café fue sometida a tratamientos distribuidos en un diseño factorial 2 x 2, dos dosis de CaO (0 a 5% en base seca), y dos condiciones ambientales (aeróbica y anaeróbica) en un diseño completamente al azar con cuatro repeticiones, totalizando dieciséis unidades experimentales. Las muestras de cinco gramos se incubaron en el rumen de dos bovinos machos durante 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96 y 120 horas. Resultados: para los parámetros cinéticos de degradación de la DM, a excepción de la fracción b, la degradabilidad potencial y efectiva fueron afectadas (p<0,05) por la interacción CaO × EC. En cuanto a los parámetros estimados de la degradación de la fibra, la fracción potencialmente degradable b presentó efecto (p<0,05) para CaO y EC. El tratamiento con CaO promovió un aumento de la fracción b en 4,08 puntos porcentuales. Conclusión: la utilización del CaO para el tratamiento de la cáscara de café aumenta la degradabilidad efectiva y potencial de la DM y reducción de la fracción no degradable de la fibra. La condición de anaerobiosis se constituye en el mejor ambiente para el tratamiento de la cascara de café con CaO.

Resumo Antecedentes: cascas de café obtidas pelo processamento a seco têm potencial de serem usadas na alimentação de ruminantes. Objetivo: avaliar a composição química, a degradabilidade in situ da matéria seca (DM) e da fibra em detergente neutro (NDF) da casca de café tratada com óxido de cálcio (CaO) em diferentes condições de ambiente (EC). Métodos: a casca de café foi submetida aos tratamentos, distribuídos em esquema fatorial 2 × 2, sendo duas doses de CaO (0 e 5% base da matéria seca) e duas condições de ambiente (aeróbico e anaeróbico), em delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com quatro repetições, totalizando dezesseis unidades experimentais. Amostras de cinco gramas foram incubadas no rúmen de dois bovinos machos, nos tempos 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96 e 120 horas. Resultados: para os parâmetros cinéticos de degradação da DM, à exceção da fração b, a degradabilidade potencial e efetiva foram afetados (p<0,05) pela interação CaO × EC. Quanto aos parâmetros estimados da degradação da fibra, a fração potencialmente degradável (b) apresentou efeito (p<0,05) para CaO e EC. O tratamento com CaO promoveu aumento da fração b em 4,08 pontos percentuais. Conclusões: a utilização do CaO no tratamento da casca de café promove aumento da degradabilidade efetiva e potencial da DM e redução da fração indegradável da fibra. A condição de anaerobiose constitui-se no melhor ambiente para o tratamento da casca de café com CaO.

Use of Castor Bean Meal, Biodiesel Industry Coproduct, in A Lamb Production System Using Creep-Feeding in Brazil.

This study aimed to evaluate the replacement of soybean meal by detoxified castor bean meal on the intake and digestibility of nutrients, body weight gain, carcass yield, physiological and urinary parameters, and creep-feeding method effectiveness. For this trial, 43 male lambs were used, Dorper × Santa Inês, with an average initial body weight of 7.95 kg, 15 days old. Lambs were distributed in a randomized block design. Five experimental diets were provided: Without supplementation, with supplementation but without the use of castor bean meal, and with gradual levels of replacement of soybean meal by detoxified castor bean meal (33%, 67%, and 100%). Higher values of DMI and nutrient digestibility (p < 0.05) were observed for animals that received supplements. The milk intake did not differ among the diets. The DMD showed a linear effect, while NDFD had a quadratic effect, depending on castor bean meal inclusion. The carcass yield did not differ between experimental diets. There was no significant effect on the urinary volume and metabolites investigated. In conclusion, the replacement of soybean meal by detoxified castor bean meal does not compromise animals' development. Besides, the creep-feeding method positively affects lamb development, with higher body weight gain for supplemented animals.

Compositional and structural dynamics of the ruminal microbiota in dairy heifers and its relationship to methane production.

BACKGROUND: Heifers emit more enteric methane (CH4 ) than adult cows and these emissions tend to decrease per unit feed intake as they age. However, common mitigation strategies like expensive high-quality feeds are not economically feasible for these pre-production animals. Given its direct role in CH4 production, altering the rumen microbiota is another potential avenue for reducing CH4 production by ruminants. However, to identify effective microbial targets, a better understanding of the rumen microbiota and its relationship to CH4 production across heifer development is needed. RESULTS: Here, we investigate the relationship between rumen bacterial, archaeal, and fungal communities as well as CH4 emissions and a number of production traits in prepubertal (PP), pubertal (PB), and pregnant heifers (PG). Overall, PG heifers emitted the most CH4 , followed by PB and PP heifers. The bacterial genus Acetobacter and the archaeal genus Methanobrevibacter were positively associated, while Eubacterium and Methanosphaera were negatively associated with raw CH4 production by heifers. When corrected for dietary intake, both Eubacterium and Methanosphaera remained negatively associated with CH4 production. CONCLUSION: We suggest that Eubacterium and Methanosphaera represent likely targets for CH4 mitigation efforts in heifers as they were negatively associated with CH4 production and not significantly associated with production traits. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Assessing the impact of rumen microbial communities on methane emissions and production traits in Holstein cows in a tropical climate.

The evaluation of how the gut microbiota affects both methane emissions and animal production is necessary in order to achieve methane mitigation without production losses. Toward this goal, the aim of this study was to correlate the rumen microbial communities (bacteria, archaea, and fungi) of high (HP), medium (MP), and low milk producing (LP), as well as dry (DC), Holstein dairy cows in an actual tropical production system with methane emissions and animal production traits. Overall, DC cows emitted more methane, followed by MP, HP and LP cows, although HP and LP cow emissions were similar. Using next-generation sequencing, it was found that bacteria affiliated with Christensenellaceae, Mogibacteriaceae, S24-7, Butyrivibrio, Schwartzia, and Treponema were negatively correlated with methane emissions and showed positive correlations with digestible dry matter intake (dDMI) and digestible organic matter intake (dOMI). Similar findings were observed for archaea in the genus Methanosphaera. The bacterial groups Coriobacteriaceae, RFP12, and Clostridium were negatively correlated with methane, but did not correlate with dDMI and dOMI. For anaerobic fungal communities, no significant correlations with methane or animal production traits were found. Based on these findings, it is suggested that manipulation of the abundances of these microbial taxa may be useful for modulating methane emissions without negatively affecting animal production.