گاز تولیدی

Animal nutritionists are looking for alternative compounds with the ability to improve the fermentation process. Probiotics and medicinal plants can be mentioned among these alternative compounds. Yarrow and ginger can be mentioned among medicinal plants that have antimicrobial properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of yarrow and ginger powder on the digestibility and gas production of sainfoin and alfalfa hay in laboratory conditions.

For this purpose, the in vitro digestibility of sainfoin and alfalfa hay and a mixture of 50% alfalfa and 50% sainfoin were measured due to the use of yarrow and ginger powder by Tilley and Terry's modified Holden method. So that different levels of yarrow and ginger powder at three levels of zero, 1.5 and 3% were added to 100 ml syringes containing alfalfa, sainfoin, and a mixture of alfalfa and sainfoin, and the amount of gas produced by incubating the syringes at times 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours of measurement and the resulting data were analyzed in a completely randomized design.

The results showed that the addition of 3% of ginger and Yarrow powder in sainfoin hay increased the digestibility of dry matter from 55.71 to 68.76 and 74.65% (P=0.0458), the digestibility of organic matter in dry matter from 52.62 to 64.95 and 62.09 percent (P=0.0468) and metabolizable energy increased from 8.42 to 10.39 and 9.93 MJ kg-1 DM (P=0.0489) by Holden's method, respectively. While the use of ginger and yarrow powder did not have a significant effect on the digestibility of organic matter, the digestibility of organic matter in dry matter and metabolizable energy of alfalfa and alfalfa- sainfoin mixture. The results related to the digestibility according to the McNiven method showed that the addition of 1.5 and 3% of yarrow and ginger powder in sainfoin and alfalfa hay could reduce the amount of gas production at times 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours of incubation. However, the addition of yarrow and ginger powder to alfalfa- sainfoin mixture did not have a significant effect on the amount of gas produced. The results of the gas test method showed that the addition of 1.5% and 3% of yarrow and ginger in sainfoin and alfalfa hay reduced the digestibility of organic matter, total short chain fatty acids and metabolizable energy compared to the control group. Among these, 3% of ginger has the most significant reducing effect on the digestibility of organic matter from 67.80 to 50.14 and 45.99% (P=0.0092), total short chain fatty acids from 1.77 to 0.76 and 0.66 milli moles (p=0.0183) and metabolizable energy from 9.88 to 7.47 and 6.79 MJ kg-1 DM (P=0.0167) respectively in sainfoin hay. Also, this similar decreasing trend continued in alfalfa hay for the nutritional parameters of the gas test. A mixture of alfalfa and sainfoin was not affected by the addition of different levels of yarrow and ginger.

It is concluded that the addition of 1.5 and 3% levels of yarrow and ginger powder in sainfoin and alfalfa hay could not improve the amount of gas production.

Pastures provide an important part of ruminant fodder needs, and farmers store some pasture plants to use in winter-feeding of livestock. Therefore, having enough information about the nutritional value of such plants can help to optimize their consumption in animal feeding. Completing the information on the good-quality plants adapted to different environments will help to use and develop these valuable resources in a better way. In addition, it may be possible to improve rumen fermentation by aromatic pasture plants. Adiantum capillus-veneris (Adiantum) and Salvia officinalis L. (Salvia) are valuable genetic resources in pastures that are also used in livestock feeding. Due to the presence of plant secondary metabolites, they may improve rumen fermentation. However, there is little information on the nutritional value of Adiantum. Some information is available on the chemical composition of Salvia species (especially the leaves) and the effect of its essential oil on the rumen, but data on the use of the whole plant as forage are limited. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the nutritional value of Adiantum and Salvia compared to alfalfa, and the effect of including different levels of them in the diet on in vitro ruminal fermentation variables and digestibility.
The experimental pasture plants (Adiantum and Salvia) were obtained in July, after flowering, from the pasture of Safrin village located in the rural district of Rajaeedasht in western Alamut (Qazvin, Iran). In experiment I, the chemical composition of the fodders was determined by the standard methods, considering alfalfa as the control forage. In experiment II, the effect of different dietary levels of the fodders was assessed using in vitro gas production technique with five treatments including 1. A diet without the rangeland plants (control diet), 2. A diet containing 15% of Adiantum, 3. A diet containing 30% of Adiantum, 4. A diet containing 15% of Salvia, and 5. A diet containing 30% of Salvia (on a DM basis). The in vitro digestibility, fermentation variables, microbial biomass production (MBP), total antioxidant power (TAP), protozoa numbers, and methane production were determined. The gas test was performed in three replicates and two runs, and data were analyzed using the GLM procedure of SAS.
According to the results of experiment I, Adiantum and Salvia had higher ash compared to alfalfa (P<0.05). The crude protein and digestibility of Adiantum were lower than Salvia and alfalfa (P<0.05). The lower digestibility of Adiantum could be due to its higher lignin and ash and the lower crude protein concentration. Therefore, when consuming Adiantum in diets of high-productive ruminants, it is necessary to pay more attention to the use of energy supplements. Compared to alfalfa, the in vitro fermentation of Adiantum and Salvia resulted in higher in vitro ruminal MBP and TAP and lower ammonia-N and protozoa population (P<0.05), due to the presence of plant secondary metabolites such as phenolics, tannins, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and terpenes. The results of experiment II showed that the inclusion of Adiantum and Salvia in the diet had no significant (P>0.05) effect on in vitro gas production, organic matter digestibility, and metabolizable energy. Dietary use of Salvia, however, enhanced truly degraded substrate (P<0.05). Sometimes, high amounts of secondary metabolites in plants may have negative effects on the rumen but the amounts of metabolites in the pasture plants used in this study were not so high as to hurt rumen microbes and digestion. Dietary inclusion of Adiantum and Salvia improved in vitro TAP and decreased protozoa population, methane production, and acetate to propionate ratio (P<0.05). The lowest methane production was observed for the diets containing Salvia. The positive effect of the rangeland plants on in vitro TAP was because both plants contain significant amounts of various secondary metabolites (such as phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and terpenes) that are known to be favorable and high-capacity antioxidants. These plant metabolites can remove free radicals, bind transition metals (such as free iron), remove active oxygen from the environment, induce antioxidant enzymes, and reduce and moderate the conditions of oxidative stress and destruction. The reduction of methane release using Adiantum and Salvia in the diet was probably related to the fact that plant secondary metabolites destruct the protozoa or interfere with their metabolic pathways. In addition, they may inhibit methanogenic and hydrogen-consuming bacteria or hydrogen-producing Gram-positive bacteria. The dietary addition of Adiantum and Salvia improved in vitro ruminal MBP and decreased the ammonia-N concentration (P<0.05) compared to the control diet. The result could be due to the reduction of the protozoa population, causing a decrease in nitrogen recycling in the rumen and a decrease in bacteria predation. The formation of phenolic-protein complexes can also be another possible reason for reducing protein breakdown and ammonia concentration. Moreover, as rumen protozoa are reduced, the bacteria will have fewer natural predators and their population (reflected in the higher MBP) will increase, improving the degradation of feed ingredients. The inclusion of Adiantum and Salvia in the diet did not affect in vitro pH, total volatile fatty acids, and partitioning factor (P>0.05).
It is possible to include whole plants of Adiantum and Salvia in the diet, up to 30% DM, without adverse effects on digestibility. It also improves diet efficiency by increasing in vitro ruminal MBP and TAP and reducing methane and ammonia production.

The present study was carried out to study different methods of heat processing on nutritional value of vetch seed. Vetch seed was processed by steam flaking, roasting and microwaving. Dry matter degradability was determined using nylon bags at 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 36, 48 hours of ruminal incubation. Vetch seed processing, affected dry matter degradability so that steam flacked and roasted samples had the highest and lowest degradability percentage respectively (91.06 vs 70.49, P<0.05). The crude protein degradability showed the same pattern as well (91.64 vs 57.52 percent for steam flaked and roasted vetch respectively, P<0.05). Five different digestibility models were used to interpret degradability of dry matter and protein of raw and heat processed vetch seed. Ørskov and McDonald's model with lag time was the best fitted model for dry matter degradability of raw, steam flaked and roasted vetch seed and Franc model was the best fitted model for microwaved vetch. Considering the crude protein degradability, the best fitted model were Dhanoa without delay phase for the raw and steam flaked vetch, Ørskov and McDonald's with lag time for roasted vetch, and Dhanoa with lag time for microwaved vetch, respectively. Steam flaked and microwaved vetch had the greatest and lowest gas production during 48 hours incubation (184.96 vs 141.84 ml respectively, P<0.05). Roasting increased metabolizable energy of vetch (4.82 vs 5.53 MJ/kg DM for raw and roasted vetch respectively, P<0.05), however no changes was observed in ME content of vetch with microwave or steam flaking.

Two experiments were conducted for evaluation the effect of different levels of saponin (0، 30 and 60 g per kg DM) and tannic acid (0، 25، 50، 100 and 150 g per kg DM) on rumen fermentability parameters. In the first stage، gas production at 2، 4، 6، 8، 16، 24، 48، 72 and 96 hours after incubation was measured. Constant rate of gas production decreased with increasing of saponin and tannic acid to the batch culture Compared the to control treatment، although this value increased in the saponin treatment alone. Cumulative gas production with tannic acid with or without saponin at 24، 48 and 96 hours after incubation increased in comparison with the to control treatment additon low levels of saponin (30 g per kg DM) with tannic acid had the most cumulative gas production at this times. In the second stage، according to batch culture pH، Nitrogen-ammonia and degradability potential of dry matter was determined. The pH was the less for all of the treatments than control treatment but there wasn’t a significant difference between treatments. Nitrogen-ammonia concentration with increasing of saponin and tannic acid levels was decreased compare to control group and saponin with tannic acid treatments had the most concentration. Degradability potential of DM in all of the treatments was higher than control group، but this higher value was specific for saponin with tannic acid treatments. Short chain fatty acids، metabolism energy and organic matter digestibility concentrations for all of the treatments was higher than control group، but this values at the different levels of saponin with tannic acid together was higher than tannic acid or saponin alone. The obtained results indicated that combination of saponin and tannic acid at low level could affect rumen fermentation pattern and nutrient digestibility positively.