ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Anim. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fanim.2025.1595795
This article is part of the Research TopicQuantifying and Mitigating Pollution from Livestock Production SystemsView all 5 articles
Biphasic effects of Callicarpa nudiflora water extract on rumen fermentation in vitro and microbial communities in sheep
Provisionally accepted
- 1Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
- 2Institute of Grassland Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hohhot, China
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This study investigated the effects of varying doses of Callicarpa nudiflora water extract (CW) on in vitro rumen fermentation and sheep microbial activity. Four rumen-cannulated hybrid sheep were selected to provide mixed rumen fluid, and the powder substrate remained consistent with the diet fed to the sheep. A total of 14 supplementation levels (0–25 g/kg fresh substrate) of CW were designed based on a completely randomized design, including 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20 and 25 g/kg. Each treatment was replicated in duplicate across three independent batches, resulting in a total of six biological replicates per treatment. The flasks were incubated at 39°C for 24 hours in water with a rotation speed of 80 r/min. Results showed that adding CW significantly affected in vitro rumen fermentation in sheep and displayed a biphasic action: The supplementation levels of 4 g/kg and 6 g/kg showed an improvement in the fermentation status and nitrogen utilization efficiency with the enhanced microbial protein concentration from 1.98 mg/mL (Con) to 2.84 mg/mL (P < 0.001) and the relative abundance of total bacteria from 4.05 (Con) to 5.27 (P < 0.001); When the dose surpassed 14g/kg, the decline in the hemicellulose degradation rate from 63.00% (Con) to 40.24% (P < 0.001), accompanied by an increase in ammonia-nitrogen (NH3−N) concentration from 173.37 mg/L (Con) to 177.46 mg/L (P = 0.020) and total gas production from 154.87 mL/g (Con) to 161.47 mL/g (P =0.007), signaled abnormal alterations in the fermentation process. In conclusion, the optimal supplementation range in feed formulations was established as 4−6g/kg, showing that CW could serve as a natural rumen modulator for sheep.
Keywords: Plant Extracts, Fiber degradation, Fermentation parameters, Ruminant, Dose effect
Received: 18 Mar 2025; Accepted: 16 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Li, Wang, Li, Huang, Ying, Liu and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Runhang Li, Institute of Grassland Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hohhot, China
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