This study was carried out to assess whether feeding of alcohol-fermented feeds (AFF) affects the nutritional metabolism and growth characteristics of Korean native steers. Ten steers were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. The dietary treatments were AFF (50% commercial beef cattle feed+30% alcohol-fermented soybean curd dregs+20% rice straw) and control (80% commercial beef cattle feed+20% rice straw). The change of serum metabolites and growth characteristics were measured every two months during the whole twelve months experimental period and the relationships between serum metabolites and growth characteristics were simultaneously analyzed. Four hours after feeding AFF, serum alcohol concentration reached its peak with a significantly higher value than that after control feeding (11.9 and 4.9 mg/dl, respectively). Serum glucose and inorganic phosphorus (IP) concentrations (63.1 and 8.4 mg/dl, respectively) of steers fed AFF were higher than those (56.6 and 7.0 mg/dl) fed the control diet. In both treatments, the serum glucose concentration rapidly increased when body weight (BW) of the steer reached about 600kg, while IP concentrations were rapidly diminished at that BW. Lower concentrations of both blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and cholesterol were observed in steers fed AFF up to 450 kg of BW. The IP concentration was correlated with concentrations of BUN, cholesterol and glucose in AFF fed cattle but not in the cattle fed control diets. Average daily gain was higher in steers fed AFF than steers fed control, particularly during the growing stage of cattle. These findings indicated a capability of AFF to improve BW gain of Korean native steers by decreased protein degradation as well as increased fat synthesis.

This study estimated the effect of fermented persimmon (Diospros kaki L.) extract (FPE) supplement on feed intake, digestibility, nitrogen (N) balance, and rumen fermentation characteristics in sheep. Five male sheep (Corriedale×Polwarth) with average body weight of 48.6±1.3 kg were housed in metabolism crates and assigned to a 5×5 Latin square design with five consecutive 20-d periods which consisted of 14-d adaptation and 6-d data collection. The sheep were fed ad libitum a diet containing concentrate and rice straw (3:7). The five treatments were FPE supplemented at 0 (Control), 5, 10, 20, and 30 g/kg of concentrate. Intakes of dry matter (DM, p<0.01), organic matter (OM, p<0.01), neutral detergent fiber (NDF, p<0.05), acid detergent fiber (ADF, p<0.05), and nitrogen-free extract (NFE, p<0.01) increased quadratically with increasing intake of FPE supplement and maximized (p<0.05) at 10 g/kg FPE. The digestibilities of DM (p<0.05), OM (p<0.05), crude protein (p<0.01), and NFE (p<0.01) increased quadratically with increasing amount of FPE supplement, and sheep fed 5 and 10 g/kg diets had greater (p<0.05) DM, OM, and NFE digestibilites than the Control treatment. By increasing FPE supplement concentration, N intake (p<0.01) and fecal N (p<0.05) increased linearly, whereas retained N (p<0.05) and retained N ratio (p<0.05) increased quadratically. The retained N was maximized (p<0.05) in sheep fed 5 and 10 g/kg diets. The mean rumen pH was not affected by FPE supplement, but there was a quadratic increase (p<0.05) of mean rumen ammonia N concentration and a linear increase (p<0.01) in mean rumen total volatile fatty acid (VFA) and acetate concentrations. The mean concentration of rumen propionate in sheep fed all FPE supplemented diets was greater (p<0.05) than the Control, but the mean ratios of rumen acetate to propionate in sheep fed 5 and 10 g/kg diets were lower (p<0.05) than that of Control sheep. In conclusion, FPE supplemented at 5-10 g/kg of concentrate improved feed intake, the digestibilites of OM and NFE, N metabolism, and rumen fermentation indices of sheep.