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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Synthetic and natural polyphenols with antioxidant properties stimulate rumen microbial growth in vitro

Mirko Cattani A , Franco Tagliapietra A B , Lucia Bailoni A and Stefano Schiavon A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Animal Science, University of Padova, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020, Legnaro, Padova, Italy.

B Corresponding author. Email: franco.tagliapietra@unipd.it

Animal Production Science 52(1) 44-50 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN11096
Submitted: 2 June 2011  Accepted: 1 December 2011   Published: 9 January 2012

Abstract

This trial compared the effects of two antioxidant phenols, butyl-hydroxyl-toluene (BHT) and a blend of polyphenols extracted from red chicory, on in vitro degradability, gas production (GP), volatile fatty acids, and microbial nitrogen production, using meadow hay and corn grain as fermentation substrates. A batch culture system with automated gas pressure detectors was used. Four replicates of each feed were incubated for 72 h without additive (Control, CTL) or with the addition of low (0.15 mg/g feed) or high (1.5 mg/g feed) dosages of BHT or red chicory. GP curves were fitted to estimate the time at which half of total GP (t1/2) was achieved. The t1/2 values for meadow hay and corn grain were ~16 and 9 h, respectively. A second incubation, conducted using the same experimental design, was stopped at t1/2. Compared with CTL, degradability and GP kinetics were not affected by the two dosages of BHT, except for GP, which increased after 48 h of incubation (P < 0.01). In the second incubation, BHT increased acetate at the expense of butyrate proportion (P < 0.01). Red chicory extract did not influence GP, feed degradability, or volatile fatty acids production in either incubation. Both BHT and red chicory induced a dosage-dependent increase in microbial nitrogen production at t1/2 (P < 0.05), on average from 7.0 to 13.9 mg/g DM. Collectively, our data suggest that increasing dosages of the two additives with antioxidant properties could have induced a shift in the partition of energy, with a higher proportion of nutrients channelled towards microbial protein synthesis.

Additional keywords: in vitro gas production, rumen microbes.


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