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Animals : an open access journal from MDPI2021; 11(8); 2212; doi: 10.3390/ani11082212

Associative Effects between Forages and Concentrates on In Vitro Fermentation of Working Equine Diets.

Abstract: Horses are hindgut fermenters, and it is therefore important to determine the postgastric nutritive value of their feedstuffs and diets. Moreover, it has been demonstrated in other animal species that the fermentation of diets results in different values than those expected from pure ingredients. Therefore, the general objective of this work is to evaluate the gas production (GP) and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration, as well as the associative effects, of mixtures of different forages and concentrated foods, which are representative of the traditional diets of high-performance horses. Methods: An in vitro gas production experiment was conducted to assess the fermentation of two forages and three concentrates that are typical in horse diets. The combination of 70% of forage and 30% concentrates was also assessed to determine potential associative effects. Results: Concentrates and grains produced higher GP and VFA than forages when evaluated alone. When experimental diets were incubated, GP parameters and VFA concentrations of forage-concentrate mixtures had unexpected differences from the values expected from the fermentation of pure ingredients, suggesting the occurrence of associative effects. Conclusions: Our results indicate that there is a need to evaluate the fermentation of diets, rather than predicting from the values of pure ingredients.
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Publication Date: 2021-07-26 PubMed ID: 34438671PubMed Central: PMC8388384DOI: 10.3390/ani11082212Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research focuses on understanding the digestive process of high-performance horses, highlighting differences in digestion when horses consume a mixture of different foods compared to when they consume pure ingredients. The studies show differences in the production of gas (GP) and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations that suggest a need to evaluate the fermentation of diets in horses rather than predicting from the values of pure ingredients.

Objective

The main goal of this study was to examine how the digestive process of horses, specifically high-performance horses, responds when provided with a mixture of forages (grass and hay) and concentrated foods (grains and feeds). Researchers aimed to understand the effect on the production of gas and volatile fatty acids (VFA), and also to observe if there were any associative effects that demonstrated changes in digestion when a mixture was consumed versus when pure ingredients were consumed.

  • Researchers conducted in vitro gas production experiments to assess the fermentation of two forages and three concentrates commonly included in horse diets.
  • The mixtures of 70 percent forage and 30 percent concentrates were also evaluated to determine potential associative effects.

Results

The findings revealed that when concentrates and grains were consumed by their own, they produced higher amounts of GP and VFA compared to when forages are consumed alone. However, when forages and concentrates were combined and then incubated, the values for GP parameters and VFA concentrations showed unexpected differences from what one might expect from the fermentation of pure ingredients. This suggests that associative effects might occur when forages and concentrates are combined in a diet.

  • This observation might imply that the digestion process in high-performance horses could be affected by the type and combination of diets consumed, necessitating further investigation on the same.

Conclusion

These results suggest a need to reevaluate current methods of feeding high-performance horses. Current practices of predicting fermentation based on the values of pure ingredients might not effectively show a true representation of what occurs during digestion when these ingredients are mixed. Therefore, to optimize the diets of high-performance horses and to better understand their digestion, further studies should focus on evaluating the fermentation of diets themselves.

Cite This Article

APA
Gandarillas M, Keim JP, Gapp EM. (2021). Associative Effects between Forages and Concentrates on In Vitro Fermentation of Working Equine Diets. Animals (Basel), 11(8), 2212. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11082212

Publication

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
ISSN: 2076-2615
NlmUniqueID: 101635614
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 11
Issue: 8
PII: 2212

Researcher Affiliations

Gandarillas, Mónica
  • Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Alimentarias, Instituto de Producción Animal, Universidad Austral de Chile, Independencia 631, Valdivia 5110566, Chile.
Keim, Juan Pablo
  • Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Alimentarias, Instituto de Producción Animal, Universidad Austral de Chile, Independencia 631, Valdivia 5110566, Chile.
Gapp, Elisa María
  • Escuela de Graduados, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Alimentarias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Independencia 631, Valdivia 5110566, Chile.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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