Influence of nature of concentrate, cereals or beet pulp, on ruminants digestion

Abstract

Nature of the concentrate in diets for ruminants, cerats or beet pulp, involves modifications 1) in flow of digesta leaving the rumen and absorbed in small intestine ; 2) in the nature and amount of ruminal end-products. These modifications have been discussed to explain the possible digestive interactions between forages and concentrates. In the same ruminal conditions, feeds rich in digestible cell walls are degraded in the rumen more slowly than wheat and barley. So, with beet pulp, the decrease in pH is lower than with cereals and the digestive interactions are reduced. In opposite, concentrates rich in digestible cell walls have a high short-term acidogenic function. Moreover, digestion of maize is very different of this of other cereals. As a consequence, it is difficult to opposite the digestion of cereals and beet pulp.