Total replacement of corn silage with sorghum silage improves milk fatty acid profile and antioxidant capacity of Holstein dairy cows

Abstract

Total mixed rations containing corn silage (CS) or forage sorghum silage (SS) were fed to mid-lactation Holstein cows to determine the effects on feed intake, lactation performance, milk composition and fatty acid profile, nutrient digestibility, blood metabolites, rumen microbial N synthesis, and antioxidant status. The experiment was designed as a 2-period changeover (two 28-d periods) trial with 2 diets including CS diet or SS diet and 12 cows. Total replacement of CS with SS had no significant influence on dry matter intake. Substituting CS with SS had no effect on milk production, feed efficiency, and milk concentrations of fat, protein, lactose, and solids-not-fat, whereas yields of milk fat, protein, and lactose were greater for cows fed the CS diet. Blood parameters including glucose, albumin, cholesterol, triglyceride, total protein, urea N, and fatty acids were not affected by the dietary treatments. Apparent digestibility coefficients of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, ether extract, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber were not significantly influenced by the diets. Replacing CS with SS had no effect on total saturated fatty acids and total monounsaturated fatty acids, whereas total polyunsaturated fatty acid percentage was greater with the SS diet. Proportions of C20:0, C18: 3n-3, and C18: 3n-6 were affected by feeding SS. Cows fed CS had a greater amount of urinary purine derivatives. Feeding SS had a positive effect on total antioxidant capacity of blood and milk. In conclusion, SS can be fed to lactating Holstein cows as a total replacement for CS without undesirable effects on animal performance, but with positive effects on antioxidant capacity and polyunsaturated fatty acids of milk. This forage can be an excellent choice for dairy farms in areas where cultivation of corn is difficult due to water shortage.

Effects of Sulfur Levels in Fermented Total Mixed Ration Containing Fresh Cassava Root on Feed Utilization, Rumen Characteristics, Microbial Protein Synthesis, and Blood Metabolites in Thai Native Beef Cattle

“…Furthermore, MCP and the efficiency of microbial protein synthesis (EMPS) were different among treatments, and higher values were found in the groups supplemented with FTMR that contained 2% sulfur and was ensiled for 7 day, while the lowest was found in the non-ensiling FTMR diet ( p < 0.01). Similarly, Khosravi et al [36] revealed that an ensiling time could increase the rate of nonstructural carbohydrate degradation, which could supply a substrate for microorganism growth [37]. It can also be noted that the microorganisms in the rumen synthesize sulfur containing amino acids and aid in the production of MCP.…”

Effect of Sulfur and Urea Fortification of Fresh Cassava Root in Fermented Total Mixed Ration on the Improvement Milk Quality of Tropical Lactating Cows

“…This relationship has been investigated in in vitro studies comparing the effect of various sources of sulfur on the bacterial synthesis, the utilization of NH 3 -N, and nutrient digestion over a 96-h incubation period [37]. It can also be noted that sulfur addition increases the performance of microbial protein synthesis to production of MCP and improves the amino acid balance [38].…”

Effects of Sorghum Silage in Lactating Buffalo Cow Diet: Biochemical Profile, Milk Yield and Quality

“…Several studies aimed to completely replace corn with sorghum silage in dairy cow's diet have been conducted with contrasting results. Indeed, milk yields were unaffected by treatment according to Miron et al [21] and Khosravi et al [23], while Colombini et al [3] and Cattani et al [1] reported higher milk yield when cows received the diet based on corn silage. This negative results for sorghum silage could be attributed to the variety of forage, in fact, Grant et al [17] found negative influence of replacing corn with sorghum silage sorghum only when dairy cows were fed diet based on non-BMR sorghum while milk yield was unaffected when BMR was used.…”

“…Higher proportion of linoleic acid we have found also in corn silage than in sorghum silage, which instead showed higher percentage of alfa-linolenic acids. Cattani et al [1] found either linoleic and alfa-linolenic acids higher in milk when cows were fed corn compared to sorghum silage; on the contrary Khosravi et al [23] reported higher proportions of alfa-linolenic acid in milk of dairy cows fed sorghum silage diet. Both linoleic and alfa-linolenic acids are recognised as main precursors of milk CLA [13,27] which in present trial was unaffected by the treatment in contrast with Cattani et al [1] which reported higher total CLA when cows were fed sorghum silage.…”