J. Anim Sci.
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J. Anim Sci. 1964. 23:344-349.
© 1964 American Society of Animal Science
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Variations in the Intraruminal Fatty Acid Ratios of Sheep Fed Ryegrass Harvested at Different Stages of Maturity1

Paul F. Parks, M. E. Riewe, Carl M. Lyman and H. O. Kunkel

Texas A & M University, College Station 2

Abstract

A series of experiments was undertaken in 1960 and 1961 to ascertain the effects of changes in apparent nutritive value and chemical composition of the diet on the molar ratio of acetate, propionate, and butyrate produced in the rumen of sheep fed Gulf ryegrass harvested at different stages of maturity.

The intraruminal molar percentages of acetate tended to increase and those of propionate and butyrate to decrease as the forage matured. Shifts in the intraruminal fatty acid ratios were shown to coincide with changes in the apparent nutritive value of ryegrass, especially in 1960. As the ryegrass became less digestible over the growing season, the mixture of acids produced in the rumen of the sheep became progressively higher in acetate and lower in propionate and butyrate.

The chemical components of ryegrass which appeared to be most closely related to the intraruminal acid ratios were soluble sugar, lignin, and protein. As the level of soluble sugar and protein in ryegrass decreased and the level of lignin in the forage increased, the molar percent of propionate in the rumen content decreased and the intraruminal molar percent of acetate increased.

Footnotes

1 This work is part of S-45 Regional Project on Nutritional Evaluation of Forage Crops cooperative between the Southern State Experiment Stations and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

2 Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, College Station, and Substation No. 3, Angleton, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.






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Copyright © 1964 by the American Society of Animal Science.