The study evaluated replacement of Egyptian berseem clover (BC, Trifolium alexandrinum) with spent rice straw (SRS) of Pleurotus ostreatus basidiomycete in diets of lactating Baladi goats. Nine lactating homo-parity Baladi goats (average BW 23.8±0.4 kg) at 7 d postpartum were used in a triplicate 3×3 Latin square design with 30 d experimental periods. Goats were fed a basal diet containing 0 (Control), 0.25 (SRS25) and 0.45 (SRS45) (w/w, DM basis) of SRS. The Control diet was berseem clover and concentrate mixture (1:1 DM basis). The SRS45 had lowered total feed intake and forages intake compared to Control. The SRS25 and SRS45 rations had the highest digestibilities of DM (p = 0.0241) and hemicellulose (p = 0.0021) compared to Control which had higher (p<0.01) digestibilities of OM (p = 0.0002) and CP (p = 0.0005) than SRS25 and SRS45. Ruminal pH and microbial protein synthesis were higher (p<0.0001) for SRS25 and SRS45 than Control, which also had the highest (p<0.0001) concentration of TVFA, total proteins, non-protein N, and ammonia-N. All values of serum constituents were within normal ranges. The Control ration had higher serum globulin (p = 0.0148), creatinine (p = 0.0150), glucose (p = 0.0002) and cholesterol (p = 0.0016). Both Control and SRS25 groups had the highest (p<0.05) milk (p = 0.0330) and energy corrected milk (p = 0.0290) yields. Fat content was higher (p = 0.0373) with SRS45 and SRS25 groups compared with Control. Replacement of BC with SRS in goat rations increased milk levels of conjugated linoleic acid and unsaturated fatty acids compared with Control. It was concluded that replacing 50% of Egyptian berseem clover with SRS in goat rations improved their productive performance without marked effects on metabolic indicators health.

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of feeding Atriplex halimus (AH) silage treated with two developed enzyme cocktails to sheep on feed intake, nutrient digestibility and ruminal fermentation. The AH silage was treated without or with 2 L of ZAD1(®) or ZAD2(®) /1000 kg with 5% molasses and ensiled for 30 days. Barley grain (300 g/head/day) was fed as an energy supplement once daily at 10.00 hours and AH silage with or without enzyme treatment was offered ad libitum to animals twice daily at 09.00 and 16.00 hours. Sheep were fed on four experimental forage diets comprised of AH silage and barley (D1), AH silage treated with ZAD1(®) and barley (D2), AH silage treated with ZAD2(®) and barley (D3) and AH silage treated with a combination of ZAD1(®) and ZAD2(®) (1:1) and barley (D4). Ensiling AH with enzymes reduced its contents of neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber. The dry matter intake of AH of D2, D3 and D4 decreased (P < 0.001) as compared to D1. However, enzyme-treated diets had greater total digestible nutrients intake (P < 0.001) as compared to D1. The nutrients digestibility for D2, D3 and D4 were higher than those for D1 (P < 0.001), and were higher for D3 as compared to both D2 and D4. Sheep fed on D3 had highest (P < 0.001) ruminal total volatile fatty acids concentration, ammonia nitrogen concentration and microbial protein yield. It could be concluded that AH silage treated with ZAD1(®) or ZAD2(®) improved digestibility and rumen fermentation in sheep.

A 3×3 Latin Square design was used to evaluate effects of 0, 150 and 300 mL of Salix babylonica (SB) extract mixed into the diet on daily milk production and composition in cows. Three Brown Swiss dairy cows (420±30.3 kg body weight), at late lactation (220±25.1 d in milk), were fed a diet with a restricted amount of concentrate and oat hay ad libitum twice daily in equal amounts. The SB extract was mixed daily with a small amount of concentrate and fed to the cows. In vitro gas production of the diet fed to the cows was recorded at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h of incubation with 0, 0.6, 1.2 and 1.8 mL SB/g DM. Intake of oat hay was increased (P<0.05) by 11.5% with the SB addition at 150 mL/d. Milk production was also increased with extract addition at 150 or 300 mL/d by about 13.3 and 8.9% respectively, compared with control. Milk fat was lower (P<0.05) with SB addition, while milk protein and lactose were not affected by the extract addition. Milk efficiency was improved (P<0.05) with extract addition versus control. In vitro gas production of the diet increased (P<0.05) dramatically with increasing levels of extract addition with a short lag time and high rate of gas production per hour vs control. Addition of SB extract at 150 mL/d improved milk production by 13.3%, while it decreased its fat content and improved milk efficiency.

The effects of the exogenous fibrolytic enzyme (ENZ) commercial preparation Dyadic® xylanase PLUS (Dyadic International, Inc., Jupiter, USA), containing endo-1,4-β-d-xylanase, on ruminal fermentation of maize stover, oat straw, and sugarcane bagasse were examined using the in vitro gas production (GP) technique. The ENZ commercial preparation was added at 0 (control), 60 (low), 120 (medium), and 240 (high) µg/g dry matter of substrate, and at two times of application (direct addition just before fermentation or with a 72-h pre-incubation before fermentation). Ruminal GP volumes were recorded at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 24, and 48 h of incubation, and substrate degradability and concentration of fermentation end-products (volatile fatty acids, ammonia, methane) in the cultures were determined at 48 h of incubation. Increased (P < 0.05) GP volume was observed in fibrous feeds treated with ENZ compared with untreated substrates. The pre-incubation vs the direct addition of ENZ resulted in greater GP volume (P < 0.05) with the three tested feeds. Enzyme addition decreased (P < 0.05) rumen pH compared to control when maize stover and sugarcane bagasse were incubated. Ammonia-N and total volatile fatty acids (VFA) were not affected (P > 0.05) by ENZ application in maize stover and oat straw. However, total and individual VFA concentrations, and CH 4 and CO 2 volumes were greater (P < 0.05) when sugarcane bagasse was incubated with 240 µg ENZ/g (P < 0.05). It can be concluded that the application of endo-1,4-β-d-xylanase enhances rumen fermentation of roughages, although the magnitude of the effects depends on the fibrous substrate fermented, the time of application, and the amount of enzyme added.

The current study aimed to study the sustainable mitigation of methane (CH 4) and carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions as well as ruminal fermentation kinetics by replacing dietary corn grain (CG) with soybean hulls (SH) in the presence of organic acid salts (OAS). Three total mixed rations were prepared where CG was replaced with SH at three levels (/kg DM): 0 g (Control), 75 g (SH75) or 150 g (SH150). The OAS was used at three levels (dose): 0, 5 and 10 mg/g DM of substrates. Increasing SH level increased (P < 0.05) the fractional rate of gas production (GP) and lag time. The SH75 and SH150 rations quadratically decreased (P < 0.001) the asymptotic CO 2 production and the lag time of CO 2 production. Moreover, the high level of OAS quadratically decreased (P 0.05) CO 2 production. The OAS inclusion increased (P < 0.05) CH 4 production (expressed as mL/g incubated DM and mL/g degraded DM). Increasing SH in the rations increased (P < 0.05) proportional CH 4 production. Inclusion of OAS also increased proportional CH 4 production. Replacing corn grain with soybean hulls could be a valuable means of sustainable mitigation of CH 4 and CO 2 emissions and improvement of the environmental conditions as well as provision of good feedstuff for ruminant livestock due to its in vitro fermentation characteristics. The organic acid salts did not affect ruminal gas production but decreased CO 2 emissions; thus its supplementation when soybean hulls replace corn grain is perhaps redundant, though may be considered as environmental friendly way of feeding livestock.

The effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as live cells (LC) or cells extract (CE) on in vitro gas production (GP) kinetics and ruminal fermentation parameters of a total mixed ration (TMR) consisting of commercial concentrate and alfalfa hay [1:1 dry matter (DM)] as a substrate was studied. The TMR was incubated with CE at 1, 2 and 4 mg/g or LC at 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 mg/g DM for 96 h. Rumen GP was recorded after 6, 12, 19, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h of incubation. Interaction effects were observed (P<0.01) between treatment type and yeast dose for the asymptotic GP and methane (CH4) production. Incubation of yeast CE improved (P<0.01) the asymptotic GP compared to control and LC with greater effects (P<0.01) for the low and the intermediate doses. Yeast CE treatment was more effective (P<0.01) in GP than both of LC and control treatments with greater effect (P<0.01) for the low and the intermediate doses. Treatment type and yeast dose affected (P<0.01) CH4 production, metabolisable energy (ME), and short chain fatty acids (SCFA) without affecting in vitro DM degradability (IVDMD). Higher values (P<0.01) of CH4, ME, SCFA and IVDMD were observed for the yeast CE treatment. It could be concluded that adding yeast S. cerevisiae (CE and LC extract) improved GP and ruminal fermentation parameters, where CE at 0.3 and 0.6 mg/g DM was more effective than the yeast LC.

The effect of seven methods of killing vanilla (Vanilla planifolia, Andrews) pods on disassembly of the cell wall was studied. The following methods of plant killing were considered in this study: pod immersions in hot water under three conditions (65°C for 3 min, 70°C for 2 min, 80°C for 10 s each of three times in 30 s intervals), pod immersions in 1% NaOH at 22°C or 65°C for 3 min, pod immersions in 95% ethanol at 22°C for 60 min, and freezing at )10°C for 24 h. Two procedures of vanilla pod killing, pod freezing at )10°C for 24 h or pod immersions in hot water at 80°C for 10 s each of three times in 30 s intervals, provoked the deepest and fastest disassembly of the cell wall structure and the successive cell content blending of the vanilla pod during the 8 days after curing.

The effects on the aroma compositions of ethanol extracts obtained by traditional and enzyme-assisted methods from seven killing conditions used in vanilla pod curing were studied. Two procedures of vanilla pod killing consisted of either freezing pods at )10°C for 24 h or immersing pods in 80°C water for 10 s each of three times with 30 s intervals resulted in the highest vanillin values in terms percentage of dry weight of the bean (2.84 and 2.96), 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (0.18 and 0.20), vanillyl alcohol (0.56 and 0.57) and vanillic acid (0.18 and 0.19 respectively) when traditional vanilla ethanol extraction was used. When this extract was aged for 3 months it showed improvement in flavour compounds. Enzyme-assisted vanilla ethanol extraction showed a higher content of flavour compounds than traditional extract, for example vanillin 4.38% and 2.96% respectively. Only vanillic acid levels were improved after ageing of the enzymeassisted extracts.