Journal of Animal Science and Technology
Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology
Article

Effect of grain vinegar feeding on milk production and fatty acid profile of Holstein cows

Seongjin Oh1,*, Tomohiro Mitani1, Masahito Kawai2, Koichiro Ueda1
1Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8589, Japan.
2Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University , Sapporo 060-0811, Japan.
*Corresponding Author: Seongjin Oh, Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8589, Japan. E-mail: soh@agr.hokudai.ac.jp.

© Copyright 2023 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Sep 05, 2023; Revised: Sep 22, 2023; Accepted: Sep 25, 2023

Published Online: Sep 25, 2023

Abstract

Incorporating organic acids into cattle feed should be carefully considered because dietary organic acids may affect voluntary feed intake and rumen fermentation. We conducted a feeding trial for the practical evaluation of grain vinegar. Lactating Holstein cows (n = 19) were divided into two groups, then were subjected to each of two treatments in a crossover design. The rumen fermentation parameters, blood urea nitrogen and NEFA, milk composition, and milk fatty acid content were analyzed. No notable changes were observed in rumen fermentation parameters or blood metabolites. Corn silage intake, milk production, and 4% FCM were not affected by vinegar supplementation. The proportions of fatty acids in milk originating from de novo synthesis in the mammary gland were 25.2% and 25.4% in control and vinegar-fed groups, respectively. The levels of branched-chain fatty acids iso-C14:0, iso-C15:0, and iso-C16:0 were substantially decreased by vinegar supplementation, are known to be related to rumen environmental stress.  This study showed that feeding grain vinegar to lactating dairy cows had no effect on feed intake, rumen fermentation, or milk production, although the proportion of some branched-chain fatty acids in the milk decreased.

Keywords: dairy cow; milk fatty acids; vinegar