Effects of probiotics on in vitro ruminal profile and population of some cellulolytic bacteria

Abstract

The aim of this studywas to evaluate the effects of probiotics on ruminal pH, ammonia nitrogen, production of short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and number of Ruminococcus albus andRuminococcus flavefaciens. The probiotics blend was tested in vitrofor 48 h incubation using “Hohenheim FutterwertTest” (HFT). There was no interaction effect of the treatment and incubation time on the ruminal pH and ammonia-nitrogen concentration. A supplemental probiotics blend tended to increase the total SCFA concentration in comparison to the non-supplemented control fermenter fluids (P> 0.05). There was a significant interaction effect of the treatment groups and incubation time on butyrate (P=0.042), valerate (P=0.045) and isovalerate (P= 0.028) concentrations. Total protozoa and total bacteria numbers were higher in probiotics supplemented fluid than in non-supplemented control fluid (P