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Table 3 Effect of Flemingia macrophylla silage (FMS) on rumen ecology and fermentation

From: Strategic supplementation of Flemingia silage to enhance rumen fermentation efficiency, microbial protein synthesis and methane mitigation in beef cattle

Items

FMS kg/d of dry mater

SEM

P-value

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

NH3-N (mg/ml)

19.31 ± 0.12d

18.32 ± 0.13c

17.53 ± 0.11b

16.91 ± 0.08a

0.50

0.001

BUN (mg/dl)

10.11 ± 0.13

10.03 ± 0.21

10.21 ± 0.43

10.03 ± 0.38

0.02

0.83

Total VFA (mM/L)

99.50 ± 4.61a

102.90 ± 4.61ab

107.70 ± 3.52bc

112.50 ± 4.23c

2.82

0.004

VFA (mol/100 mol)

 Acetic acid

73.90 ± 0.67d

73.00 ± 0.36c

71.70 ± 0.94b

70.20 ± 0.98a

0.81

0.001

 Propionic acid

16.50 ± 0.20a

17.70 ± 0.19b

19.30 ± 0.59c

20.90 ± 0.74d

0.95

0.001

 Butyric acid

9.70 ± 0.53c

9.20 ± 0.33b

9.00 ± 0.39ab

8.90 ± 0.26a

0.18

0.002

 Acetic acid to Propionic acid

4.50 ± 0.08d

4.10 ± 0.06c

3.80 ± 0.16b

3.40 ± 0.16a

0.23

0.001

Methane (mol/100 mol)

32.60 ± 0.16d

31.68 ± 0.14c

30.59 ± 0.45b

29.38 ± 0.55a

0.69

0.001

pH

6.82 ± 0.03

6.87 ± 0.02

6.84 ± 0.03

6.89 ± 0.02

0.02

0.13

Protozoa (×105Cell/ml)

8.08 ± 0.07c

6.65 ± 0.05b

4.98 ± 0.07a

4.40 ± 0.09a

0.83

0.009

  1. a,b,c,dMeans in the same row with different superscripts differ (P < 0.01), SEM Standard error of the mean, BUN Blood urea nitrogen, VFA Volatile fatty acid, Methane production=0.45 (acetic acid) – 0.275 (propionic acid) + 0.4 (butyric acid)