Effects of Obligate Heterofermentative Lactic Acid Bacteria Alone or in Combination on the Conservation of Sugarcane Silage.

Our objective was to determine the effects of two strains of obligate heterofermentative bacteria, alone or in combination, on the fermentation profile, gas production kinetics, chemical composition, and aerobic stability of sugarcane silage. A plot of sugarcane was manually harvested, mechanically chopped and treated with: distilled water (5 mL kg-1; Control), Lentilactobacillus hilgardii CNCM I-4785 [3 × 105 colony-forming units (cfu) g-1; LH], Lentilactobacillus buchneri NCIMB 40788 (3 × 105 cfu g-1; LB), and LH+LB (1.5 × 105 cfu g-1 of each strain). Treated forages were packed into 1.96-L gas-tight silos (0.40 porosity) and stored at 25 ± 1.5°C for 70 days (4 replicates per treatment). All heterolactic inoculants were effective to increase acetic acid concentration and inhibit yeast metabolism, as treated silages had lower formation of ethanol, ethyl esters and gas during fermentation. Lower fungal development spared soluble carbohydrates, consequently resulting in silages with higher in vitro digestibility. Nevertheless, L. buchneri was the most effective strain to extend the aerobic stability of sugarcane silage (based on both temperature and pH rise). The use of L. buchneri alone or in combination with L. hilgardii, applied at 3 × 105 cfu g-1, is a feasible strategy to inhibit yeast metabolism and increase the nutritional quality of sugarcane silage.

Effects of feeding a live yeast on rumen fermentation and fiber degradability of tropical and subtropical forages.

BACKGROUND: The effect of live yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain CNCM I-1077 (SC) on the ruminal degradability of different forages commonly found in dairy diets in South America was evaluated. We also assessed if SC supplementation interacts with forage group to affect ruminal fiber degradability. Four non-lactating rumen-cannulated Holstein cows were randomly assigned to two treatment sequences: Control-SC-Control or SC-Control-SC, in a switchback design, with three 30-day periods. Cows in the SC treatment were supplied with 1 × 1010 colony-forming units of yeast daily via rumen cannula. In situ degradability of dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fiber (aNDF) was measured in 15 forages collected in South America. Forages were assigned to one of three groups: corn silages; tropical grasses (sugarcane silages and tropical grass silages); and temperate grasses and alfalfa (oat silages, ryegrass silages, alfalfa silage, and alfalfa hay). RESULTS: Cows supplemented with SC had higher (P = 0.05) counts of yeasts and lower (P = 0.03) concentration of lactate in rumen fluid. There was no interaction between forage group and yeast supplementation (P > 0.10) on in situ degradability. The SC increased DM (by 4.6%) and aNDF degradation (by 10.3%) at 24 h of incubation (P < 0.05). Metabolomics revealed that a chemical entity (C17 H29 N6 O3 , m/z 365.2284 [M + H]+ ) from the family of lipids and related molecules was suppressed in the rumen fluid of cows supplemented with SC. CONCLUSION: The SC supplementation improved DM and aNDF degradability regardless of the forage group. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Reduction in lignin content and increase in the antioxidant capacity of corn and sugarcane silages treated with an enzymatic complex produced by white rot fungus.

The objective was to evaluate the effect of the addition of 0, 10, 20, and 30 mg.kg-1 of natural matter of a lignocellulosic enzymatic complex produced by the white rot fungus on the chemical composition, cumulative gas production in vitro, and antioxidant compounds of corn and sugarcane silages. After being chopped and treated with the enzymatic complex, the plants were packed in vacuum-sealed bags. After 60 days, the mini silos were opened and the samples were dried in a forced ventilation oven at 55 °C for analysis of the proposed parameters. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four replicates per treatment. In the corn silage, there was a linear reduction in the lignin concentration. In the sugarcane silage showed a reduction of 12% in the lignin concentration, a linear reduction in the hemicellulose content, and a decrease of 8% in the cellulose concentration compared to the control treatment. The lignin monomers had linear increases in the syringyl:guaiacil ratio. This reflected on significant increases in the concentration of the non-fibrous carbohydrates and the A + B1 fraction of the carbohydrates, and a reduction in the C fraction. The in vitro gas production increased, the time of colonization and initiation of in vitro fermentation linearly decreased in both silages. The phenolic compounds and the antioxidant capacity increased linearly with the addition of the enzymes in both silages. The addition of the lignocellulolytic enzymes to the silages caused changes in the cell wall, resulting in improvements in the in vitro fermentative parameters, besides the additional effect on the antioxidant capacity. There was an effect of the addition of the enzymes on the evaluated fodder, and the best concentration was, on average, 20 mg kg-1 MN for corn silage and 10 mg kg-1 NM for sugarcane silage.

Fibrolytic enzymes improve the nutritive value of high-moisture corn for finishing bulls.

Exogenous fibrolytic enzymes (EFE) improve the energy availability of grains for nonruminant animals by reducing encapsulation of the endosperm nutrients within grain cell walls; however, these benefits are unknown in the treatment of corn-based silage for cattle. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of adding EFE at ensiling on the nutritive value of high-moisture corn (HMC) and snaplage (SNAP) for finishing Nellore bulls. The EFE dose was 100 g/Mg fresh matter in both HMC and SNAP. Diets were 1) a SNAP + HMC control (without enzyme addition); 2) SNAP + HMC EFE (with enzymes); 3) a whole-plant corn silage (WPCS) + HMC control (without enzyme addition); and 4) WPCS + HMC EFE (with enzymes). In addition to the silages, the diets were also composed of soybean hulls, soybean meal, and mineral-vitamin supplement. The statistical design was a randomized complete block with a factorial arrangement of treatments, and the experiment lasted 122 d. For in situ and in vitro analyses, 2 cannulated dry cows were used. There was no interaction between the diets and EFE application (ADG, P = 0.92; DMI, P = 0.77; G:F, P = 0.70), and there was no difference between the SNAP and WPCS diets regarding the DMI (P = 0.53), ADG (P = 0.35), and feed efficiency (ADG:DMI, P = 0.83). Adding EFE to the HMC and SNAP at ensiling did not affect ADG but decreased DMI (P = 0.01), resulting in greater feed efficiency by 5.91% (P = 0.04) than that observed in animals fed diets without the addition of EFE. Addition of EFE to HMC resulted in reduced NDF content and increased in vitro and in situ DM digestibility compared with untreated HMC. No effects were found for the addition of EFE to SNAP. Fecal starch decreased with EFE application (P = 0.05). Therefore, the diet energy content (TDN, NEm, and NEg) calculated from animal performance increased (P = 0.01) with the addition of EFE to HMC. In conclusion, exchanging the NDF from WPCS with that from SNAP did not affect the performance of finishing cattle, whereas the addition of EFE to HMC at ensiling improved animal performance by increasing the energy availability of the grain.

Energy balance in grazing Jersey cows in early lactation supplemented with peanut and sunflower oils.

In this study, we evaluated the effects of supplementation with peanut and sunflower oils on intake and digestibility, milk yield and composition, energy balance (EB), changes in weight and body condition score (BW and BCS), and blood metabolites of Jersey cows on pasture in early lactation. Twenty-four cows were distributed in a randomized block design where they received the following treatments: concentrate without oil (CON), concentrate plus 59.6 g/kg DM peanut oil (PEA), concentrate plus 59.6 g/kg DM sunflower oil (SUN), and concentrate plus 59.6 g/kg DM of a 1:1 mixture of peanut oil and sunflower oil (MIX). The data were analyzed at 30 and 60 days in milk (DIM). Oil supplementation did not affect total dry matter intake or forage intake. The treatment SUN reduced daily milk yield, 4% fat-corrected milk yield, and milk fat, while the other treatments generated similar results. The treatment SUN reduced the milk net energy and the use efficiency of the NEL for milk production and BW and BCS changes, and improved EB up to 60 DIM. On tropical pastures, supplementation with unsaturated oils for cows in early lactation does not result in better milk performance. The supplementation with sunflower oil improves the energy balance in early lactation.

Funcionalidade do sulco do retículo em bovinos adultos e avaliação de técnicas alternativas para preparação, infusão e coleta de marcadores da fase fluida ruminal / Reticular groove functionality in adult cattle and evaluation of alternative techniques for preparation, infusion and sampling of ruminal fluid phase markers

Os objetivos deste trabalho foram determinar a funcionalidade do sulco do retículo em bovinos adultos e avaliar técnicas alternativas para preparação, infusão e coleta de marcadores da dinâmica ruminal. Quatro vacas com cânulas ruminais foram utilizadas em três ensaios experimentais. No ensaio 1 a porcentagem de água que passou diretamente ao omaso (27,39 por cento) tendeu a ser menor (P = 0,14) que a porcentagem de água que atingiu o ruminorretículo (72,61 por cento), indicando funcionamento ineficiente dessa estrutura em bovinos adultos. No ensaio 2, as taxas fracionais de passagem de fluido determinadas simultaneamente por Cr-EDTA (14,79 por cento h-1) e Co-EDTA preparado por técnica alternativa (14,76 por cento h-1) não diferiram (P = 0,96) e as regressões exponenciais tiveram alto coeficiente de determinação (r² = 0,90). A relação Co:Cr no fluido ruminal não diferiu ao longo das quatro horas de coleta de amostras (P = 0,68). Não houve variação entre a relação Co : Cr na urina e nas fezes. A técnica de fácil execução, proposta para preparação do Co-EDTA, mostrou-se efetiva. No ensaio 3, em que os marcadores foram infundidos à digesta sem homogeneização, a melhor plotagem (r² = 0,88; P < 0,001) da regressão exponencial foi obtida excluindo-se os cinco primeiros tempos de coleta (1,67 h após infusão) e dobrando-se os intervalos até as 5,33 h após infusão. Nesse padrão de coleta, os coeficientes de determinação das regressões exponenciais não diferiram (P = 0,17) de curvas padrões (r² = 1), quando comparados hipoteticamente. As técnicas alternativas propostas para infusão e amostragem são viáveis, mas requerem validação.

The objectives of this work were to determine the functionality of the reticular groove in adult cattle and to evaluate alternative techniques for preparation, infusion and collection of ruminal dynamics markers. Four cows with rumen cannulas were used in three experimental assays. In the first assay the water percentage that passed directly to the omasum (27.39 percent) tended to be lower (P = 0.14) than the water percentage that reached the reticulorumen (72.61 percent), indicating inefficient functioning of the reticular groove in adult bovines. In assay 2, the fractional rates estimated simultaneously by Cr-EDTA (14.79 percent h-1) and Co-EDTA prepared for an alternative technique (14.76 percent h-1) did not differ (P = 0.96). The exponential regressions had a high determination coefficient (r² = 0.90). The Co : Cr ratio in the ruminal fluid did not differ during the four hour sampling period (P = 0.68). There was no variation in the Co : Cr ratio in urine or feces. The simple technique proposed for the preparation of Co-EDTA, was effective. In assay 3, markers were infused into digesta without homogenization. The best plotting (r² = 0.88; P < 0.001) of the exponential regression was obtained by excluding the five initial collection times (1.67 h after infusion) and by doubling the sampling intervals until 5.33 h after infusion. Under this collection pattern, the exponential regression determination coefficients did not differ (P = 0.17) from the standard curves (r² = 1), when hypothetically compared. The alternative techniques proposed for infusion and sampling are viable, but require validation.