ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1658831
This article is part of the Research TopicDietary Supplements for Optimizing Rumen Health and Nutrient Digestibility in LivestockView all 15 articles
Impact of Mixed Silages of Licorice Aerial Parts and Whole Plant Corn on Nutrient Digestibility, Rumen Fermentation, and Gastrointestinal Microbiota in Simmental Cattle
Provisionally accepted
- Tarim University, Aral, China
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Licorice aerial parts are widely cultivated in China but are often underutilized due to nutrient loss during haymaking. Ensiling them with whole-plant corn may enhance their nutritional value and utilization. This study evaluated the effects of mixed silages containing aerial parts of licorice and whole-plant corn at varying inclusion levels (0%, 22%, 28%, and 34%) on nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation, and gastrointestinal microbiota in Simmental cattle.Forty-eight male Simmental cattle were randomly assigned to four groups and fed the experimental diets for 75 days. Apparent nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation parameters, and microbial profiles in rumen fluid and feces were assessed. The 22% and 28% silage groups showed significantly higher digestibility of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF), along with increased concentrations of rumen acetate and total volatile fatty acids (TVFA), compared to the control and 34% groups. Rumen pH was significantly lower in these groups. Microbial diversity (Chao1 index) increased in the 34% group, while the 22% group had a higher relative abundance of beneficial rumen bacteria such as Oscillospiraceae and NK4A214_group, with Oscillospiraceae negatively correlated with rumen pH. In feces, Firmicutes was enriched in the 28% group and identified as a key biomarker. Other beneficial taxa, including Christensenellaceae, Monoglobaceae, and Ruminococcus, also increased with silage supplementation. These results suggest that incorporating 28% licorice-corn mixed silage in the diet optimizes nutrient digestibility, enhances rumen fermentation, and improves gut microbial composition, thereby boosting feeding efficiency in fattening Simmental cattle.
Keywords: Licorice-corn mixed silage, Apparent nutrient digestibility, Rumen fermentation parameters, Gastrointestinal microbiota, Simmental cattle
Received: 03 Jul 2025; Accepted: 18 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Tang, Xu, Sun, Gao, Li, Lu, Yu and Jiang. 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: Xingyu Xu, Tarim University, Aral, China
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