Effects of feeding Mediterranean buffalo sorghum silage versus maize silage on the rumen microbiota and milk fatty acid content

Effects of feeding Mediterranean buffalo sorghum silage versus maize silage on the rumen microbiota and milk fatty acid content

Sorghum presents a sustainable feedstock for Mediterranean buffaloes due to its reduced water and nitrogen requirements compared with maize, which is currently fed primarily. We investigated the effects of feeding sorghum as opposed to maize on Mediterranean buffalo rumen microbial diversity and mil...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of general and applied microbiology Vol. 58; no. 2; pp. 107 - 112
Main Authors: Huws, Sharon Ann, Chiariotti, Antonella, Sarubbi, Fiorella, Carfì, Francesca, Pace, Vilma
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Tokyo Applied Microbiology, Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Research Foundation 01-01-2012
Microbiology Research Foundation
Subjects:
Animal Feed
Animals
bacteria
Biological and medical sciences
Buffaloes - physiology
DGGE
Diet - veterinary
fatty acids
Fatty Acids - analysis
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Mediterranean buffalo
Microbiology
Milk - chemistry
rumen
Rumen - metabolism
Rumen - microbiology
Silage - classification
Sorghum
T-RFLP
Zea mays
Monocotyledones
Mediterranean buffalo
Zea mays
T-RFLP
Corn
Microflora
Rumen
Sorghum
Fatty acids
Vertebrata
Mammalia
Restriction fragment length polymorphism
Gramineae
Silage
Angiospermae
Bacteria
Spermatophyta
Artiodactyla
Sorghum (food)
Ungulata
Buffalo
Comparative study
DGGE
Milk
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Summary:Sorghum presents a sustainable feedstock for Mediterranean buffaloes due to its reduced water and nitrogen requirements compared with maize, which is currently fed primarily. We investigated the effects of feeding sorghum as opposed to maize on Mediterranean buffalo rumen microbial diversity and milk fatty acid content. Four cannulated lactating Mediterranean buffalo cows were fed a basal diet for one month before switching either to maize or sorghum-silage based diets for a 3-month period. Buffaloes were then changed over to the contrasting diet for a further one month. Rumen and milk samples were collected at the end of each month. DGGE- and T-RFLP-based dendrograms generated from rumen samples did not show an effect of diet on rumen bacterial diversity. Milk samples also did not differ in terms of their fatty acid content post sorghum feeding as compared with maize feeding. Thus, sorghum provides an environmentally beneficial alternative to maize for feeding Mediterranean buffalo with little effect on rumen microbial diversity or milk fatty acid composition compared with maize feeding.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0022-1260
1349-8037
DOI:10.2323/jgam.58.107