Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T17:09:07.387Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The effect of in sacco rumen incubation of a grass silage upon the total and D-amino acid composition of the residual silage dry matter

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

J. A. Rooke
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Biochemistry and Nutrition, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU
H. A. Greife
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Biochemistry and Nutrition, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU
D. G. Armstrong
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Biochemistry and Nutrition, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU

Summary

Grass silage was incubated in polyester bags in the rumens of Jersey heifers for 2, 12, 24 and 48 h. The total (D + L) and D-amino acid contents of the silage and of the silage residues remaining after rumen incubation were determined. In addition, the contamination of the silage residues by rumen bacterial protein was measured by using 35S as a marker of rumen bacterial protein. The amino acid profile of the residual silage dry matter differed markedly after 2 h of rumen incubation from that of the original silage; thereafter progressive changes in the amino acid composition of the residual silage dry matter occurred between 2 and 48 h of rumen incubation. The D-alanine content of the original silage was higher than that of D-glutamic acid. Both these D-amino acids disappeared almost completely from the silage after 2 h rumen incubation; between 2 and 48 h rumen incubation the quantities of D-alanine and D-glutamic acid in the residual silage dry matter increased. The residual silage dry matter contained more D-glutamic acid than D-alanine and these acids were in a similar proportion to that found in rumen bacteria; thus it was concluded that D-amino acids in the residual silage dry matter resulted from contamination of the residues by rumen bacteria. Contamination of residual silage protein by rumen bacterial protein increased with length of rumen incubation; the extent of contamination was similar for each incubation time whether assessed using 35S or D-amino acids as markers of rumen bacterial protein. However, this contamination by rumen bacterial protein did not markedly alter the degradability of silage protein calculated from the disappearance of silage N incubated in sacco.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, E. (1972). Amino acid racemases and epimerases. The Enzymes, vol. 6 (ed. Boyer, P. D.), pp. 479507.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Agricultural Research Council (1980). The Nutrient Requirements of Ruminant Livestock. Slough: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, D. G. & Thomas, P. C. (1980). Protein digestion in cows and sheep given silage diets. Proceedings of the 3rd EAAP Symposium on Protein Metabolism and Nutrition (ed. Oslage, H. J. and Rohr, K.), pp. 422431. Braunschweig: Information Centre of Bundesforschungsanstalt für Landwirtschaft.Google Scholar
Czerkawski, J. W. (1976). Chemical composition of microbial matter in the rumen. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 27, 621632.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dewar, W. A. & McDonald, P. (1931). Determination of dry matter in silage by distillation with toluene. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 12, 790795.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frank, H., Nicholson, G. J. & Bayer, E. (1978). Enantiomer labelling, a method for the quantitative analysis of amino acids. Journal of Chromatography 167, 187196.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garrett, J. E., Goodrich, R. D. & Meiske, J. C. (1982). Measurement of bacterial nitrogen using D-alanino. In Protein Requirements for Cattle: Symposium (ed. Owens, F. N.), pp. 26–30. Oklahoma City: Oklahoma State University.Google Scholar
Kaiser, F. E., Gehrke, C. W., Zumwalt, R. W. & Kuo, K. C. (1974). Amino acid analysis. Hydrolysis, ion-exchange clean up, derivatization and quantitation by gas-iquid chromatography. Journal of Chromatography 94, 113133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacGregor, C. A., Sniffen, C. J. & Hoover, W. H. (1978). Amino acid profiles of total and soluble protein in feedstuffs commonly fed to ruminants. Journal of Dairy Science 61, 566573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McMeniman, N. P. (1975). Aspects of nitrogen digestion in the ruminant. Ph.D. thesis, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.Google Scholar
McMeniman, N. P. & Armstrong, D. G. (1979). The flow of amino acids into the small intestine of cattle when fed heated and unheated beans (Vicia faba). Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 93, 181188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McMillan, L. (1982). D-Amino acids in the ruminant digestive tract. Ph.D. thesis, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.Google Scholar
Mathers, J. C. & Aitchison, E. M. (1981). Direct estimation of the extent of contamination of food residues by microbial matter after incubation with synthetic fibre bags in the rumen. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 98, 691693.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mathers, J. C. & Miller, E. L. (1980). A simple procedure using 35S incorporation for the measurement of microbial and undegraded food protein in ruminant digesta. British Journal of Nutrition 43, 503514.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mehrez, A. Z. & Ørskov, E. R. (1977). A study of the artificial fibre bag technique for determining the digestibility of feeds in the rumen. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 88, 645650.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, E. L. (1980). Protein value of feedstuffs for ruminants. In Vicia faba: Feeding Value, Processing and Viruses (ed. Bond, D. A.), pp. 1730. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.Google Scholar
Ministry Of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1975). Energy allowances and feeding systems for ruminants. Technical Bulletin no. 33, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. London: H.M.S.O.Google Scholar
Rooke, J. A., Akinsoyinu, A. O. & Armstrong, D. G. (1983). The release of mineral elements from grass silages incubated in sacco in the rumens of Jersey cattle. Grass and Forage Science 38, 311316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rooke, J. A., Brookes, I. M. & Armstrong, D. G. (1983). The digestion of untreated and formaldehyde-treated soya-bean and rapeseed meals by cattle fed a basal silage diet. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 100, 329342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rooke, J. A., Norton, B. W. & Armstrong, D. G. (1982). The digestion of untreated and formaldehydetreated soya-bean meals and estimation of their rumen degradabilities by different methods. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 99, 441452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schleifer, K. H. & Kandler, O. (1972). Peptidoglycan types of bacterial cell walls and their taxonomic implications. Bacteriological Reviews 36, 407477.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed