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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2016, Vol. 15 Issue (12): 2827-2833    DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(16)61418-1
Animal Science · Veterinary Science Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Impacts of the unsaturation degree of long-chain fatty acids on the volatile fatty acid profiles of rumen microbial fermentation in goats in vitro
GAO Jian1*, WANG Meng-zhi1*, JING Yu-jia1, SUN Xue-zhao2, WU Tian-yi1, SHI Liang-feng1
1 College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, P.R.China
2 Grasslands Research Centre, AgResearch Ltd., Private Bag 11008, Palmerston North, New Zealand
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Abstract      This study investigated the impacts of the degree of unsaturation (unsaturity) of long-chain fatty acids on volatile fatty acid (VFA) profiles of rumen fermentation in vitro. Six types of long-chain fatty acids, including stearic acid (C18:0, control group), oleic acid (C18:1, n-9), linoleic acid (C18:2, n-6), α-linolenic acid (C18:3, n-3), arachidonic acid (C20:4, n-6) and eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5, n-3), were tested. Rumen fluid from three goats fitted with ruminal fistulae was used as inoculum and the inclusion rate of long-chain fatty acid was at 3% (w/w) of substrate. Samples were taken for VFA analysis at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 h of incubation, respectively. The analysis showed that there were significant differences in the total VFA among treatments, sampling time points, and treatment×time point interactions (P<0.01). α-Linolenic acid had the highest total VFA (P<0.01) among different long-chain fatty acids tested. The molar proportion of acetate in total VFA significantly differed among treatments (P<0.01) and sampling time points (P<0.01), but not treatment×time point interactions (P>0.05). In contrast, the molar proportion of propionate did not differ among treatments during the whole incubation (P>0.05). However, for butyrate molar proportions, significant differences were found not only among sampling time points but also among treatments and treatment×time point interactions (P<0.01), with eicosapentaenoic acid having the highest value (P<0.01). Additionally, no statistically significant differences were found in the acetate to propionate ratios among treatments groups (P>0.05), even the treatments stearic acid and α-linolenic acid were numerically higher than the others. The inclusion of 3% long-chain unsaturated fatty acids differing in the degree of unsaturation brought out a significant quadratic regression relation between the total VFA concentration and the double bond number of fatty acid. In conclusion, the α-linolenic acid with 3 double bonds appeared better for improving rumen microbial fermentation and the total VFA concentration.
Keywords:  volatile fatty acid        unsaturation degree        long-chain fatty acid        in vitro fermentation  
Received: 02 December 2015   Accepted:
Fund: 

The study was financially supported by the Graduate Student Innovation Project of Jiangsu Province, China (KYLX15_1377), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (BK20151312), and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), China.

Corresponding Authors:  WANG Meng-zhi, Tel/Fax: +86-514-87997196, E-mail: mengzhiwangyz @126.com    
About author:  GAO Jian, E-mail: gaojianyzu@126.com;

Cite this article: 

GAO Jian, WANG Meng-zhi, JING Yu-jia, SUN Xue-zhao, WU Tian-yi, SHI Liang-feng. 2016. Impacts of the unsaturation degree of long-chain fatty acids on the volatile fatty acid profiles of rumen microbial fermentation in goats in vitro. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 15(12): 2827-2833.

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