Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T01:45:25.925Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rumen fermentation studies on two contrasting diets. 1. Some characteristics of the in vivo fermentation, with special reference to the composition of the gas phase, oxidation/reduction state and volatile fatty acid proportions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

T. N. Barry ,
A. Thompson  and
D. G. Armstrong
T. N. Barry
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Biochemistry, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
A. Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Biochemistry, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
D. G. Armstrong
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Biochemistry, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Rumen fermentation characteristics were studied using sheep fitted with rumen cannulae. Diets of 100% hay and 20% hay:80% cooked flaked maize (concentrate diet) were fed at the maintenance level of energy intake as two equal portions per day. Both the gas and liquid phases of the rumen were continuously sampled over 33-h periods.

Concentrations of O2 and N2 in rumen gas inoreased during feeding, whilst concentrations of CO2 and CH4 decreased. Thereafter the concentrations of both CO2 and CH4 rapidly increased. The CO2: CH4 ratio increased rapidly following feeding; it declined to baseline levels 2–4 h after feeding the hay diet, but with the concentrate diet the decline took longer. O2 concentration declined rapidly following feeding and was stable within the range 1–3% for long periods. At no stage was O2 absent from the rumen gas phase. H2 comprised 100–1500 μ1/1 and 100–6000 μ1/1 of the gas phase in sheep fed the hay or concentrate diets respectively and its concentration increased very rapidly with the onset of eating. CO concentration varied between 2 and 16 μ1/1 in the rumen gas of hay-fed animals and was not related to time after feeding. In concentrate-fed animals CO comprised 0—130 μ1/1 of rumen gas and increased very slowly after feeding.

Eh and rH values ranged between —150 and —260 mV and 8·0 and 5·0 units respectively for rumen contents from animals fed the two diets. A diurnal cycle was evident, with the most oxidizing state being attained just before feeding, and the most reducing state just after feeding. The diurnal cycles were better denned by rH than by Eh. The magnitude of the decrease in rH (and pH) during feeding was greater for animals fed the concentrate than the hay diet. At no stage during feeding did Eh or rH change towards more oxidizing conditions. Changes in the concentration of H2 in rumen gas were related to changes in the rH of rumen contents.

VFA molar proportions showed no changes during the 24-h cycle with hay-fed animals but showed erratic variation with concentrate-fed animals. When two sheep fed the concentrate diet were sampled daily for 21 days, it was shown that VFA molar proportions were not constant.

It was concluded that the gas phase of the rumen was never completely O2-free, and that whilst a stable rumen fermentation existed in sheep fed the hay diet the fermentation appeared to be continuously changing in the concentrate-fed sheep, and on this last mentioned diet abnormal values for rumen gas composition and VFA proportions were produced from time to time.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 89 , Issue 1 , August 1977 , pp. 183 - 195
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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

Armstrong, D. G. (1964). Evaluation of artificially dried grass as a source of energy for sheep. II. The energy value of cocksfoot, timothy and two strains of rye-grass at varying stages of maturity. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 62, 399–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Association Of Official Agricultural Chemists (1965). Official Methods of Analysis, 10th ed.Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Baldwin, R. L. & Emery, R. S. (1960). The oxidation/reduction potential of rumen contents. Journal of Dairy Science 43, 506–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barry, T. N., Thompson, A. & Armstrong, D. G. (1977). Rumen fermentation studies on two contrasting diets. 2. Comparison of the performance of an in vitro continuous culture fermentation with in vivo fermentation. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 89, 197–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaxter, K. L. (1962). The Energy Metabolism of Ruminants. London: Hutchinsons.Google Scholar
Blaxter, K. L. & Wainman, F. W. (1964). The utilization of the energy of different rations by sheep and cattle for maintenance and for fattening. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 63, 113–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaxter, K. L. & Clapperton, J. L. (1965). Prediction of the amount of methane produced by ruminants. British Journal of Nutrition 19, 511–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Broberg, G. (1957). Measurements of the redox potential in rumen contents. I. In vitro measurements on healthy animals. Nordisk Veterinaermedicin 9, 918–30.Google Scholar
Czerkawski, J. W. (1972). Fate of metabolic hydrogen in the rumen. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 31, 141–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Czerkawski, J. W. & Breckenridge, G. (1969). The effect of oxygen on fermentation of sucrose by rumen micro-organisms in vitro. British Journal of Nutrition 23, 67–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Czerkawski, J. W., Blaxter, K. L. & Wainman, F. W. (1966). The metabolism of oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids by sheep with reference to their effects on methane. British Journal of Nutrition 20, 349–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawes, E. A. (1972). Quantitative Problems in Biochemistry, 5th ed., pp. 348–56. Edinburgh & London: Churchill, Livingstone.Google Scholar
Demeyer, D. I. & Van Nevel, C. J. (1975). Methanogenesis, an integrated part of carbohydrate fermentation and its control. In Digestion and Metabolism in the Ruminant, pp. 366–82. Proceedings of the IVth International Symposium on Ruminant Physiology (ed. McDonald, I. W. and Warner, A. C. I.). Australia: University of New England Publishing Unit.Google Scholar
Dewey, D. W., Lee, H. J. & Marston, H. R. (1958). Provision of cobalt to ruminants by means of heavy pellets. Nature 181, 1367–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dougherty, R. W. (1940). Physiological studies of induced and natural bloat in cattle. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 96, 43–6.Google Scholar
Dougherty, R. W. (1961). The physiology of eructation in ruminants. In Digestive Physiology and Nutrition of the Ruminant (ed. Lewis, D.), pp. 79–87. Butterworths.Google Scholar
Harrison, D. G., Beever, D. E., Thomson, D. J. & Osbourn, D. F. (1975). Manipulation of rumen fermentation in sheep by increasing the rate of flow of water from the rumen. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 85, 93–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hungate, R. E. (1966). The Rumen and its Microbes. London and New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hungate, R. E. (1967). Hydrogen as an intermediate in the rumen fermentation. Archiv für Mikrobiologie 59, 158–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hume, I. D. (1974). The proportion of dietary protein escaping degradation in the rumen of sheep fed on various protein concentrates. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 25, 155–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacob, H. E. (1970). Redox Potential. In Methods in Microbiology, vol. 2 (ed. Norris, J. R. and Ribbons, D. W.), pp. 103–4. London and New York: Academio Press.Google Scholar
Jacobson, D. R. & Lindahl, I. L. (1955). University of Maryland Agricultural Experimental Station, Miscellaneous Publication 238, 9–15.Google Scholar
Kistener, A. & Gilchrist, F. M. C. (1962). Bacteria in the ovine rumen. I. The composition of the population on a diet of poor teff hay. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 59, 77–83.Google Scholar
Lee, J., Sudworth, G. B. & Gibson, J. (1964). A gaschromatographic apparatus for the analysis of mine gases. Analyst 89, 103–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McArthur, J. M. & Miltimore, J. E. (1961). Rumen gas analysis by gas-solid chromatography. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 41, 187–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacRae, J. C. & Armstrong, D. G. (1968). Enzyme methods for determination of α-linked glucose polymers in biological materials. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 19, 578–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marston, H. R. (1948). The fermentation of cellulose in vitro by organisms from the rumen of sheep. Biochemical Journal 42, 564–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nelson, W. O., Brown, R. E. & Kingwill, R. G. (1960). Factors affecting ratios of CO2:CH4 in bovine rumen gas. Journal of Dairy Science 43, 1654–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olsen, T. M. (1940). Bloat in dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science 23, 343–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pilgrim, A. F. (1948). The production of methane and hydrogen by the sheep. Australian Journal of Scientific Research 1, 130–8.Google Scholar
Pritchard, F. & Walton, W. H. (1952). A new technique of gas sampling. Chemistry and Industry 71, 166–7.Google Scholar
Shorland, F. B., Weenink, R. O., Johns, A. T. & McDonald, I. R. C. (1957). The effect of sheeprumen contents on unsaturated fatty acids. Biochemical Journal 67, 328–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thomson, D. J., Beever, D. E., Da Silva, Coelho, , J. F. & Armstrong, D. G. (1972). The effect in sheep of physical form on the sites of digestion of a dried lucerne diet. I. Sites of organic matter, energy and carbohydrate digestion. British Journal of Nutrition 28, 31–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ulyatt, M. J. & MacRae, J. C. (1974). Quantitative digestion of fresh herbage by sheep. I. The sites of digestion of organic matter, energy, readily fermentable carbohydrate, structural carbohydrate and lipid. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 82, 295–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, D. J. & Forrest, W. W. (1964). The application of calorimetry to the study of ruminal fermentation in vitro. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 15, 299–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Washburn, L. E. & Brody, S. (1937). Growth and development with special reference to domestic animals. XLII. methane, hydrogen and carbon dioxide production in the digestive tract of ruminants in relation to respiratory exchange. Missouri Agricultural Experimental Station Research Bulletin, No. 263.Google Scholar
Weston, R. H. & Hogan, J. P. (1971). The digestion of pasture plants by sheep. V. Studies with subterranean and berseem clovers. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 22, 139–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar