Impact of chemical structure of flavanol monomers and condensed tannins on in vitro anthelmintic activity against bovine nematodes

Plants containing condensed tannins (CT) may have potential to control gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) of cattle. The aim was to investigate the anthelmintic activities of four flavan-3-ols, two galloyl derivatives and 14 purified CT fractions, and to define which structural features of CT determine the anti-parasitic effects against the main cattle nematodes. We used in vitro tests targeting L1 larvae (feeding inhibition assay) and adults (motility assay) of Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora. In the larval feeding inhibition assay, O. ostertagi L1 were significantly more susceptible to all CT fractions than C. oncophora L1. The mean degree of polymerization of CT (i.e. average size) was the most important structural parameter: large CT reduced larval feeding more than small CT. The flavan-3-ols of prodelphinidin (PD)-type tannins had a stronger negative influence on parasite activity than the stereochemistry, i.e. cis- vs trans-configurations, or the presence of a gallate group. In contrast, for C. oncophora high reductions in the motility of larvae and adult worms were strongly related with a higher percentage of PDs within the CT fractions while there was no effect of size. Overall, the size and the percentage of PDs within CT seemed to be the most important parameters that influence anti-parasitic activity

A mechanistic model of small intestinal starch digestion and glucose uptake in the cow

The high contribution of postruminal starch digestion (up to 50%) to total-tract starch digestion on energy-dense, starch-rich diets demands that limitations to small intestinal starch digestion be identified. A mechanistic model of the small intestine was described and evaluated with regard to its ability to simulate observations from abomasal carbohydrate infusions in the dairy cow. The 7 state variables represent starch, oligosaccharide, glucose, and pancreatic amylase in the intestinal lumen, oligosaccharide and glucose in the unstirred water layer at the intestinal wall, and intracellular glucose of the enterocyte. Enzymatic hydrolysis of starch was modeled as a 2-stage process involving the activity of pancreatic amylase in the lumen and of oligosaccharidase at the brush border of the enterocyte confined within the unstirred water layer. The Na+-dependent glucose transport into the enterocyte was represented along with a facilitative glucose transporter 2 transport system on the basolateral membrane. The small intestine is subdivided into 3 main sections, representing the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum for parameterization. Further subsections are defined between which continual digesta flow is represented. The model predicted nonstructural carbohydrate disappearance in the small intestine for cattle unadapted to duodenal infusion with a coefficient of determination of 0.92 and a root mean square prediction error of 25.4%. Simulation of glucose disappearance for mature Holstein heifers adapted to various levels of duodenal glucose infusion yielded a coefficient of determination of 0.81 and a root mean square prediction error of 38.6%. Analysis of model behavior identified limitations to the efficiency of small intestinal starch digestion with high levels of duodenal starch flow. Limitations to individual processes, particularly starch digestion in the proximal section of the intestine, can create asynchrony between starch hydrolysis and glucose uptake capacity

In vitro rumen fermentation of diets with different types of condensed tannins derived from sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) pellets and hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) pericarps

The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro rumen fermentation parameters of diets including pellets of sainfoin pellets and/or hazelnut pericarps, which are two plant resources that containing different types of condensed tannins (CT) with contrasted structures, using a batch culture system during for 24 h. The treatments were a basal diet (control), the basal diet + pellets of dehydrated sainfoin (PS), the basal diet + freeze-dried hazelnut pericarps (HP), and the basal diet + PS + HP. The diets were adjusted to be isotannic (20 g/kg dry matter (DM), except for the control) and isoproteic (132 g/kg DM). Total gas and methane (CH4) productions were measured after 3.5 h and 24 h of incubation. At the end of incubation, pH, in vitro DM degradability (IVDMD) and the concentration of fermentation end-products in the medium were also measured. The CT structures of CT infrom PS and HP were very different: as PS showed a PD-dominant profilehad mostly prodelphinidins and HP showed a PC-dominant profile mostly procyanidins. After 24 h of incubation, the total gas and methane productions and IVDMD were greater for the basal diet than for the diet + HP and the diet + PS (P<0.05). The CH4 production increased significantly with the diet + HP in the presence of PEG, a compound CT-inactivating CTcompound (P<0.001), and tended to increase for the diet + PS (P<0.1). The volatile fatty acids (VFA) net productions were globally similar among treatments, while the NH3 concentration was lower for the diet + PS (with a significant PEG effect) than for the diets including HP, and was the highest for the basal diet. It was concluded that the inclusion of PS and HP in a basal diet results in lower rumen fermentability and that but their CT decreased CH4 production and protein degradability;, PS being were more efficient effective than HP for the latterreducing protein degradability

Low emission feed : opportunities to mitigate enteric methane production of dairy cows

As global demand for high-quality food originating from animal production is expected to rise due to an increasing human population and consumer income level, the expected role of ruminants in meeting this demand brings multiple challenges. Ruminant production needs to adapt to environmental changes and, at the same time, reduce its impact on the environment. Ruminants production systems have a major impact on the environment through the emission of greenhouse gases such as methane (CH4), nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide. Microbial fermentation of feeds in the gastrointestinal tract, known as enteric fermentation, is the main source of CH4 emissions from dairy production. Enteric CH4 emission is strongly related to the amount of feed fermented in the rumen, which depends on feed intake, feed composition and rumen fermentation conditions associated to the intrinsic characteristics of these feeds and the characteristics of the whole diet. Important gaps in knowledge remain however. The prime aim of this thesis was to investigate the effects of various feeding strategies to mitigate enteric CH4 emissions of dairy cows. First experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of type and level of starch in the concentrate. Inclusion of a high level (53%) of starch in the concentrate that accounted for 40% of the total mixed ration dry matter (DM) produced lower CH4 per unit of estimated rumen fermentable organic matter (eRFOM) than a low level (27% of DM) of starch (43.1 vs. 46.9 g/kg of eRFOM). Methane production per kg of eRFOM also was lower for diets based on rapidly fermentable starch (gelatinized maize grain) compared to diets based on slowly fermentable starch (native maize grain) (42.6 vs. 47.4 g/kg of eRFOM). However, inclusion of 53% of starch in the concentrate from both types of starch did not affect CH4 emission intensity (CH4 Ei) (CH4 emission per kg of fat- and protein-corrected milk; FPCM). In a subsequent experiment, maize silage was prepared from whole-plant maize harvested at a very early (25% DM), early (28% DM), medium (32% DM) and late (40% DM) stage of maturity and fed to dairy cows as an alternative to concentrate as starch source. Diet consisted of (on DM basis) 75% maize silage, 20% concentrate and 5% wheat straw. Increasing harvest maturity of maize silage linearly decreased CH4 yield (21.7, 23.0, 21.0 and 20.1 g/kg of DM intake) and CH4 emission as a fraction of gross energy intake (6.3, 6.7, 6.3 and 6.0%). Methane Ei tended to decrease linearly with maturity (13.0, 13.4, 13.2 and 12.1 g/kg FPCM). In another experiment grass silage as roughage source was tested. This experiment was designed to investigate the effects of N fertilisation of grassland and maturity of grass at cutting on CH4 emission in dairy cows. Two N fertilisation rates (65 vs. 150 kg of N/ha) were examined in combination with three stages of grass maturity (early, 28 days of regrowth; mid, 41 days of regrowth; and late, 62 days of regrowth). Diet contained 80:20 ratio (on DM basis) of grass silage (mainly ryegrass) and concentrate. Dry matter intake decreased with N fertilisation and maturity, and FPCM decreased with maturity but was unaffected by N fertilisation. Methane Ei (mean 15.0 g/kg of FPCM) increased by 31% and CH4 per unit digestible OM intake (mean 33.1 g/kg of DOMI) increased by 15% with increasing maturity. Methane yield (mean 23.5 g/kg of DM intake) and CH4 as a fraction of gross energy intake (mean 7%) increased by 7 and 9% with maturity, respectively, which implies an increased loss of dietary energy with progressing grass maturity. Rate of N fertilisation had no effect on CH4 Ei and CH4 yield. Despite the importance of in vitro gas production technique for evaluating feeds, in vitro study as a stand-alone approach was considered inadequate to fully evaluate the potential effect of feeds and rumen fermentation modifiers on CH4 production, because in vitro studies are frequently performed separately rather than in parallel with in vivo studies. To test this hypothesis, both in vitro and in vivo CH4 measurements were measured simultaneously using cows in the first experiment that were fed (and adapted to) the same dietary material used as a substrate for in vitro incubation, as donor for microbial inoculum. It was found that 24-h in vitro CH4 (mL/g of incubated organic matter) correlated well with in vivo CH4 when expressed per unit of eRFOM (R2 = 0.54), but not when expressed per unit of organic matter ingested (R2 = 0.04). In the same experiment, results showed that incubation of the same substrate with rumen inocula obtained from donor cows adapted to different diets produced a variable amount of CH4 suggesting that it is important to consider the diet of the donor animal when collecting rumen inocula for in vitro incubation. Even though the in vitro technique has limitations to represent in vivo conditions, it is useful for screening of large sets of animal feeds or feed additives to be used as a CH4 mitigation strategy. In this thesis, two in vitro experiments were conducted to examine the effects of variation in structural composition of condensed tannins (CT) in sainfoin accessions collected from across the world on CH4 production, and CT extracts obtained from a selected sainfoin accessions on CH4 production. Results revealed substantial variation among CT in their effect on in vitro CH4 production and this variation was attributed to differences in chemical structure of CT. Condensed tannins evaluated in this thesis showed to have potential to reduce in vitro CH4 production, but require further investigations to fully evaluate their in vivo effects. In conclusion, results from the research work conducted in this thesis show that changes in the basal diet of dairy cows and in roughage production management can substantially reduce the amount of enteric CH4 produced and thereby influence the impact of dairy production on the environment

79 Effect of source and dietary concentration of trace minerals on serum mineral status, ruminal pH, and ruminal volatile fatty acids in lactating Holstein dairy cows

Abstract Inorganic sources of trace minerals are commonly supplemented in dairy cow diets; however, there has been an increase in the supplementation of minerals complexed with organic compounds. These organic trace minerals are thought to have greater bioavailability which may enhance rumen fermentation and absorption. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of dietary concentration and source of supplemental trace minerals on serum trace mineral status and rumen fermentation. Six lactating Holstein cows were used in a 6 x 6 Latin square design with a 23-day adaptation and 5-day experimental period. Cows were fed the same basal diet daily except for the difference in source [organic (ORG) versus inorganic (INO)] and concentration (50%, 100%, and 200% based on NRC recommendations) of trace mineral supplemented. During the experimental period feed intake and blood were collected daily. Rumen fluid was collected on the final two days of the experimental period. Data was analyzed with PROC MIXED in SAS 9.4. Dry matter intake (18.1 ± 0.70 kg), serum mineral concentrations (Cu, Mn, Se, and Zn), and rumen pH (6.5 ± 0.64) did not differ among the treatments. However, serum concentration of Co was higher in 200% ORG compared to 50% and 100% INO and 50% ORG. Ruminal concentration of acetate was higher in 50% and 100% ORG compared to 200% ORG. Butyrate ruminal concentration was higher at 50% ORG compared to 200% ORG. Ruminal propionate concentration was higher in 50% INO and 50% ORG compared to 100% INO and 200% ORG. These findings demonstrate serum trace mineral status and ruminal pH are not tightly controlled by the source of trace minerals when supplemented at 50%, 100% and 200% of the NRC recommendations, however rumen fermentation may be affected by the dietary concentration of trace minerals in the diet. <jats:p /