Effect of Essential Plant Oil Used as an Additive to Alter Silage Fermentation in Ruminant by In Vitro

Hamed Amini Pour¹, Abbas-Ali Naserian², Ali-Reza Vakili² and Abdol-Mansour Tahmasbi²

¹Ph.D Student of Ruminant Nutrition, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad International Campus, Mashhad, Iran.

²Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.

Corresponding Author E-mail: AbasaliN@yahoo.com

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/2429

ABSTRACT: The subject of this research was to evaluate the effect of adding different levels (0, 2ml) essential oils of thyme (Thymus) and Menthapiperita (Carvacrol) on alfalfa silagedegradability byin vitro gas production and in vitro gas production kinetics. In vitro gas production values were determined by using rumen liquor from three lactation Holstein cows in times of 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. The results of this paperreport that, the effects of essential oils of thyme (Thymus) and Menthapiperita (Carvacrol) were significant. In vitro gas production was decreased by essential oils of thyme (Thymus) and Menthapiperita (Carvacrol). These essential oils and their different doses or combinations in alfalfa silage could be used to improve the performance of ruminants. Moreover, essential oils may act at different levels in energy and protein metabolic pathways, therefore their careful selection and combination may be a useful tool to effectively manipulate rumen fermentation.

KEYWORDS: Essential Oils;  InVitro MenthaPiperita; Thyme;

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