Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine the effects of feeding two kinds of alfalfa varieties, Gannon No. 3 (G3) and Gannon No. 9 (G9), with variable contents of tannin and flavonoids and compare their effects to dietary supplements of tannin and flavones on ruminal degradation kinetics and serum metabolites. Fifteen ruminally cannulated small-tailed Han rams were divided into five groups and fed the following diets for 30 days as follows: CONT (basal diet), G3 (200 g of G3 + basal diet), G9 (200 g of G9 + basal diet), TAN (2 g of hydrolysable tannin (HT) + basal diet) and FLV (2 g of Puerariae flavones + basal diet). Animals were weighed, serum samples were collected, and in situ ruminal incubation of soybean was performed to determine the degradation kinetics of the dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), and organic matter (OM). Animals’ weight increased significantly at the end of the experiment in all groups. The greatest serum total protein concentration was found in the TAN group. Also G9 and FLV increased the ruminal degradation of DM and CP. Meanwhile CONT followed by TAN and G3 decreased the rumen degradable fractions of CP and increased significantly the undegradable CP fraction. We concluded that G9 had a similar effect as Puerariae flavone, while G3 followed the same effect of HT on the ruminal degradation. However, they showed different impacts on serum metabolites.
Published Version
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