Shanshan Gao

Gut microbiota has been established as a critical regulator of human longevity, but the mechanistic role of rumen microbiota in dairy cow productive lifesp

Colostrum is a vital performance for buffaloes and potentially functional foods in the future. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the difference between the parity of buffalo colostrum and mature milk. Twenty pregnant buffaloes (primiparous = 10; multiparous = 10) were assigned to the same diet prepartum and milking routine postpartum. Calves were separated from the dams immediately after birth and colostrum was harvested within 2 h, whilst mature milk was harvested at 7 days postpartum. The colostrum was analyzed for immunoglobulin G and milk composition as the mature milk. The results showed that there was a higher level of protein, solid not fat, and milk urea nitrogen (p < 0.05), with a tendency for higher total solids (p = 0.08) in primiparous buffaloes’ colostrum compared with multiparous. No parity effect was observed in colostrum immunoglobulin G, fat, lactose, and yields of colostrum and composition (p > 0.05). There was no difference in mature milk composition and yield by parity affected (p > 0.05). Compared with mature milk composition, colostrum had a higher content protein, total solids, solid not fat, and milk urea nitrogen (p < 0.05); however, fat and lactose were lower than that of mature milk (p < 0.05). For minerals, multiparous buffaloes’ colostrum had a higher concentration of Fe (p = 0.05), while the mature milk had higher concentrations of K and P compared with primiparous. Buffalo colostrum had higher concentrations of Na, Mg, Co, Fe, and K with a lower concentration of Ca relative to mature milk (p < 0.05). It was observed that parity affected colostrum characteristics rather than mature milk and caused subtle variations in minerals in colostrum and mature milk of buffaloes. As lactation proceeded, both milk composition and minerals in the milk changed drastically.

This research aimed to evaluate the effects of Capsicum oleoresin (CAP) supplementation on rumen fermentation in vivo and In vitro, and lactation performance in buffaloes. In the experiment in vitro, 2 × 5 factorial design was carried out according to two temperatures (normal temperature: 39 °C; hyperthermal temperature: 42 °C) and five CAP concentrations (0 mg/L; 2 mg/L; 20 mg/L; 200 mg/L; 2000 mg/L). In the experiment in vivo, four multiparous mid-lactating Mediterranean buffaloes (body weight: 640.08 ± 17.90 kg) were randomly allocated to four treatments according to 4 × 4 Latin square design for CAP supplementation in four dosages (0 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg, 20 mg/kg, or 40 mg/kg of dry matter). The experiment’s results In vitro showed that hyperthermal temperature affected all fermentation characteristics measured in this research. CAP decreased the pH, short-chain fatty acids concentration, and percentages of propionate, butyrate, isobutyrate, valerate, and caproate, while increasing the percentage of acetate and the ratio of acetate to propionate at normal temperature (p ≤ 0.05). In the experiment in vivo, CAP decreased the percentage of propionate and quadratically affected acetate percentage in rumen fluid (p ≤ 0.05). CAP reduced rectal temperature and respiratory rates (p ≤ 0.05) and tended to increase dry matter intake quadratically (p ≤ 0.10). For lactation performance, CAP increased milk yield and milk lactose yield (p ≤ 0.05), and tended to increase milk protein yield (p ≤ 0.10). In conclusion, CAP modified rumen fermentation characteristics in vivo and In vitro and had beneficial effects on lactation performance in buffaloes during summer.

The present study investigates the effect of Capsicum oleoresin (CAP) supplementation on the dry matter intake, milk performance, plasma metabolites, and nutrient digestibility of dairy cows during the summer. Thirty-two lactating Holstein dairy cows (n = 32) were randomly divided into four groups. The CAP was dissolved in water and added to the total mixed ration with graded levels of CAP (0, 20, 40, and 80 mg/kg of dry matter). The trial period consisted of seven days for adaptation and thirty days for sampling. Data were analyzed using the MIXED and GLM procedure SAS. The linear and quadratic effects were tested. The milk yield, milk fat, and milk urea nitrogen increased linearly with the dietary addition of CAP (p < 0.05). The dry matter intake increased linearly in the 20CAP group (p < 0.05). Additionally, the 4% fat-corrected milk, energy-corrected milk, milk fat yield, and milk fat to milk protein ratio increased quadratically (p < 0.05), while the rectal temperature decreased quadratically (p < 0.05). Serum total cholesterol and non-esterified fatty acids increased linearly (p < 0.05); glucose and β-hydroxybutyrate tended to increase quadratically with the dietary addition of CAP (p = 0.05). Meanwhile, CAP supplementation did not affect the milk protein yield, blood concentration of triglyceride, insulin, lipopolysaccharide, immunoglobulin G, or heat shock protein 70 expression level (p > 0.05). In addition, nutrient digestibility was comparable among groups (p > 0.05). These findings indicated that CAP supplementation could enhance the lactation performance of dairy cows during the summer.