Abstract
On a diet containing fodder sugar beets the proportion of butyric acid in the mixture of the volatile fatty acids of the rumen contents was found to be unusually high. When the rumen contents were incubated at different pH-levels in vitro, it was found that the proportion of butyric acid in the volatile fatty acid mixture produced increases when the pH decreases. Using polyethylene glycol as a reference substance, the transfer of fluid through the reticulo-omasal orifice was studied. The transfer of volatile fatty acids into the omasum is calculated on the basis of the fluid flow and on the acid concentrations of the fluid in the lower anterior part of the contents.
Highlights
A positive correlation has been found to exist between the protein content of the fodder and the butyric acid content of the acid mixture in the rumen [25] but this cannot account for the abundance of butyric acid in the present instance, which was caused by the feeding of beets, as could be concluded by comparison of the results obtained with various kinds of diet
Beet diet appears to provide one approach for its determination. It may be of practical value in the study of the factors affecting the fat content of the milk since the decrease of acetic acid content is mainly compensated by an increase of butyric acid
When the rumen contents were incubated at different pH-levels in vitro, it was found that the proportion of butyric acid in the volatile fatty acid mixture produced increases when the pH decreases
Summary
Microbial digestion of fodder in the reticulo-rumen is responsible for a considerable part of the digestion of ruminants [2, 16], and so the volatile fatty acids coming into existence as a result contribute significantly to the animals’ nutrition. The method most commonly employed in studying the relative formation of acids is determination of the acid composition of the rumen contents It has proved useful for inter-diet comparisons, the influence of the permeability of the rumen walls upon the resorption of acids, and upon the composition of the acid mixture, renders the results uncertain to some extent [5, 9, 18]. Corroboration of such results has been attempted, e.g. with the aid of culture tests. Attempts were made to obtain preliminary data on the escape of acids by the reticulo-omasal opening since it can be inferred that, for this part, the resorption conforms to the escaping acid quantities
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