Effects of essential oils on rumen fermentation, milk production, and feeding behavior in lactating dairy cows

Abstract

Seven ruminally cannulated lactating Holstein dairy cows were used in an incomplete Latin rectangle design to assess the effects of 2 commercial essential oil (EO) products on rumen fermentation, milk production, and feeding behavior. Cows were fed a total mixed ration with a 42:58 forage:concentrate ratio (DM basis). Treatments included addition of 0.5 g/d of CE Lo (85 mg of cinnamaldehyde and 140 mg of eugenol), 10 g/d of CE Hi (1,700 mg of cinnamaldehyde and 2,800 mg of eugenol), 0.25 g/d of CAP (50mg of capsicum), or no oil (CON). Cows were fed ad libitum twice daily for 21 d per period. Dry matter intake, number of meals/d, h eating/d, mean meal length, rumination events/d, h ruminating/d, and mean rumination length were not affected by EO. However, length of the first meal after feeding decreased with addition of CE Hi (47.2 min) and CAP (49.4 min) compared with CON (65.4 min). Total volatile fatty acids, individual volatile fatty acids, acetate:propionate ratio, and ammonia concentration were not affected by EO. Mean rumen pH as well as bouts, total h, mean bout length, total area, and mean bout area under pH 5.6 did not differ among treatments. Total tract digestibility of organic matter, dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, crude protein, and starch were not affected by EO. Milk yield and composition did not change with EO. In situ dry matter disappearance of ground soybean hulls was not affected by EO. However, organic matter disappearance of soybean hulls with CE Hi tended to decrease compared with CON. Compared with CON, neutral detergent fiber disappearance (41.5 vs. 37.6%) and acid detergent fiber disappearance (44.5 vs. 38.8%) decreased with addition of CE Hi. The CE Lo had no effect on rumen fermentation, milk production, or feeding behavior but CAP shortened the length of the first meal without changing rumen fermentation or production, making it a possible additive for altering feeding behavior. The CE Hi negatively affected rumen fermentation and shortened the length of the first meal, suggesting that a dose of 10 g/d is not beneficial to lactating dairy cows.

The Effects of Thyme and Cinnamon Essential Oils on Performance, Rumen Fermentation and Blood Metabolites in Holstein Calves Consuming High Concentrate Diet

“…The findings of the present study for ruminal pH were in line with previous researches in sheep (Chaves et al, 2008a;b), dairy cows (Yang et al, 2007; Kung et al, 2008; Tager and Krause., 2011), and beef cattle (Cardozo et al, 2006; Fandino et al, 2008; Meyer et al, 2009; Yang et al, 2010a;c) that found no effect of EO on pH. It should be noted, that although ruminal pH was unaffected by EO supplementation, the mean ruminal pH of the bull calves in this research was lower (5.87 to 5.98) compared to results (6.08 to 6.52) of Devant et al (2007); which examined effects of plant extract supplementation in young Holstein bulls who consumed high concentrate diets.…”

“…In contrast recently Yang et al (2010b) reported that dietary supplementation with cinnamaldehyde increased DMI of feedlot cattle in the early wk of the fattening period, although, cinnamaldehyde had no effect on DMI after 4 wk of the experiment. Lack of effect of EO on DMI has been reported (Benchaar et al, 2007; Yang et al, 2007; Tassoul et al, 2009; Tager and Krause, 2011), but also other studies showed that EO can decrease DMI (Cardozo et al, 2006; Fandino et al, 2008). In some of studies, depression of DMI in cattle supplemented with EO might be related to palatability problems, proposing that the EO require to be encapsulated to overcome this problem (Calsamiglia et al, 2007).…”

Effects of dietary Capsicum oleoresin on productivity and immune responses in lactating dairy cows

“…Overall, rumen fermentation parameters were not affected by CAP in the current experiment, although a slight decrease (P = 0.06) in pH was observed. These results are consistent with those reported by Tager and Krause (2011), in which ruminal ammonia and VFA concentrations were not affected by 250 mg/d of a Capsicum product in lactating dairy cows. Others, however, have reported decreased pH and acetate concentration and increased ammonia concentration in the rumen of beef cattle supplemented with encapsulated Capsicum oleoresin (Rodríguez-Prado et al, 2012).…”

“…For example, the amount of Capsicum oleoresin used in the study of Rodríguez-Prado et al (2012) was 2.5 to 10.6 mg/kg of DMI, whereas application rate of Capsicum oleoresin was 1.8 to 7.5 mg/kg of DMI in the current study. Tager and Krause (2011) also reported no effect of Capsicum on DMI in dairy cows. The combination of dietary nutrient supplies and quadratic increases of milk, 4% FCM, and ECM yields with CAP supplementation in the current experiment resulted in negative NE L balances (−0.9 Mcal/d) for both C250 and C500 treatment.…”

Impact of Essential Oils Blend on Methane Emission, Rumen Fermentation Characteristics and Nutrient Digestibility in Barki Sheep

“…Some in vitro studies both of long and short term and in vivo studies reported that EO did not affect NDF digestibility as noted in our results (Benchaar et al, 2006;Tassoul & Shaver, 2009;Santos et al, 2010;Tager & Krause, 2011). However, Fernandez et al (1997) observed that sheep given EO from 50 to 1 000 mg /day caused a marked inhibition in fiber digestion in the rumen, which may be due to the selective effect of EO on the rumen microbial population (McIntosh et al, 2003).…”