Acta Vet. Brno 2010, 79: 533-541

https://doi.org/10.2754/avb201079040533

Influence of Wheat and Maize Starch on Fermentation in the Rumen, Duodenal Nutrient Flow and Nutrient Digestibility

Milan Šimko1, Zuzana Čerešňáková2, Daniel Bíro1, Miroslav Juráček1, Branislav Gálik1, Eva Straková3, James France4, Ousama Alzahal4, Brian McBride4

1Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Slovakia
2Institute of Animal Nutrition, Slovak Agricultural Research Center, Nitra, Slovakia
3Department of Nutrition, Animal Husbandry and Animal Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Czech Republic
4Centre for Nutrition Modelling, Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University of Guelph, Canada

We investigated the effects of feeding diets with different starch sources on fermentation in the rumen, duodenal nutrient flow and nutrient digestibility. The basis of the diets was maize silage and alfalfa hay supplemented with wheat meal in diet W, or maize meal in diet M. The experiment was performed on four Black-Spotted bulls with mean live weight of 525 kg, which were fed twice daily at 06.30 and 18.30 h. Experimental animals were fitted with ruminal fistulae and duodenal T-shaped cannulae. Cr2O3 was used as a marker of nutrient flow to the duodenum. Rations were formulated so that the ratio of starch to crude fibre (CF) was 2.1:1 and the percentage of CF was maintained at 17% (DM). Duodenal chymus was collected at 2-h time intervals. Starch origin significantly affected ruminal fermentation. Concentration of propionic, butyric and lactic acid was higher with wheat than with maize meal. When the maize meal was the source of starch there was a significantly higher flow of fat, CF, nitrogen-free extract, and starch into duodenum. Differences in duodenal flow of crude protein were not significant across the starch sources. Intake of wheat meal or maize meal increased duodenal flow relative to intake by 33% or 42 % respectively. The apparent digestibility of dry matter (76 ± 2%), crude protein (67 ± 0.9%), CF (64 ± 1.9%), nitrogen-free extract (82 ± 1.5%) and organic matter (76 ± 1.3%) was significantly higher by offering wheat meal.

References

30 live references