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Ruminal and morphometric parameters of rumen and intestine in lambs fed guava (Psidium guajava L.) agroindustrial waste

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of guava agroindustrial waste (GAW) on ruminal parameters (pH, N-NH3, and microbial protein), volatile fatty acid (VFA), and morphometry of the rumen and intestine of sheep. A total of forty Santa Inês sheep (120 days old and 21.3±2.62 kg) were used. The animals were fed diets with 0, 7.5, 15, 22.5, and 30% inclusion of GAW. The pH, ammonia nitrogen, microbial protein, and VFA were evaluated in the ruminal fluid, alongside the morphometric characteristics of the rumen and intestine. The inclusion of GAW linearly increased fasting and postprandial pH, N-NH3 only showed a quadratic effect for fasting animal, whereas MP presented a quadratic effect for pre- and post-prandial animals. There was a quadratic effect for papilla width, with a maximum value of 393.33 μm at the level of 34.43% GAW in the diet. The papilla absorption area showed a linear effect, in which increasing levels of GAW in the diet had a smaller area of papillae absorption. The inclusion of GAW in the diet of Santa Inês sheep favored pH neutrality, reduced N-NH3 and ruminal MP concentrations, decreased the thickness of the rumen muscular layer, and increased the intestinal mucosa, favoring greater absorption of nutrients.

Keywords:
microbial protein; pH; ruminal ammonia; volatile fatty acid

Introduction

The low-cost feed ingredients based on agroindustrial byproducts are potential alternatives that can reduce the cost of mixed feed, but the effects of these ingredients on animal performance and final products need to be further considered (Whitney and Smith, 2015Whitney, T. R. and Smith, S. B. 2015. Substituting redberry juniper for oat hay in lamb feedlot diets: Carcass characteristics, adipose tissue fatty acid composition, and sensory panel traits. Meat Science 104:1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2015.01.010
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2015.0...
). Some of these discarded wastes are considered pollutants, but most can be used to feed ruminants, reducing production costs by turning low-nutrient residues into high-value products such as meat and milk (Geron et al., 2015Geron, L. J. V.; Garcia, J.; Costa, F. G.; Aguiar, S. C.; Oliveira, E. B.; Silva, M. I. L.; Cabral, L. S.; Pierangeli, M. A. P.; Zeoula, L. M. and Mexia, A. A. 2015. Ruminal parameters and nitrogen balance in sheep fed diets containing residue from the extraction of tamarind pulp. Semina: Ciências Agrárias 36:3411-3420.; Hassan et al., 2016Hassan, T. M. M.; Abdel-Fattah, F. A. I.; Farid, A. S. and Kamel, E. R. 2016. Effect of feeding guava waste on growth performance, diet, digestibility, carcass characteristics and production profitability of ossimi lambs. Egyptian Journal of Nutrition Feed 19:463-475.). Among the fruits processed by agribusiness, guava (Psidium guajava L.) is widely used in the manufacture of beverages, syrup, ice cream, jams, jellies, caramel, juice, and dehydrated and canned products (Denny et al., 2013Denny, C.; Melo, P. S.; Franchin, M.; Massarioli, A. P.; Bergamaschi, K. B.; Alencar, S. M. and Rosalen, P. L. 2013. Guava pomace: a new source of anti-inflammatory and analgesic bioactives. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 13:235. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-13-235
https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-13-235...
). After processing (pulping and washing with chlorinated water), a residue is obtained, consisting of bark, pulp, and mainly seeds, which, according to Uchôa-Thomaz et al. (2014)Uchôa-Thomaz, A. M. A.; Sousa, E. C.; Carioca, J. O. B.; Morais, S. M.; Lima, A.; Martins, C. G.; Alexandrino, C. D.; Ferreira, P. A. T.; Rodrigues, A. L. M.; Rodrigues, S. P.; Thomaz, J. C. A.; Silva, J. N. and Rodrigues, L. L. 2014. Chemical composition, fatty acid profile and bioactive compounds of guava seeds (Psidium guajava L.). Food Science and Technology 34:485-492. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-457x.6339
https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-457x.6339...
, represents between 4 and 12% of the total mass of the fruits.

The composition of guava agroindustrial waste (GAW) contains crude protein (CP; 39.5 g/kg dry matter [DM]), neutral detergent fiber (NDF; 761.8 g/kg DM), acid detergent fiber (ADF; 453.2 g/kg), and ash (10.0 g/kg DM) (Oliveira et al., 2018Oliveira, M. D.; Mello, H. H. C.; Stringhini, J. H.; Mascarenhas, A. G.; Arnhold, E.; Conceição, E. C.; Martins, J. M. S. and Silva Júnior, A. J. 2018. Antioxidant effect of the guava byproduct in the diet of broilers in the starter phase. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia 47:e20160290. https://doi.org/10.1590/rbz4720160290
https://doi.org/10.1590/rbz4720160290...
). Moreover, its lipid fraction is predominantly composed of unsaturated fatty acids, especially linoleic acid (77.35% of all fatty acids) (Uchôa-Thomaz et al., 2014Uchôa-Thomaz, A. M. A.; Sousa, E. C.; Carioca, J. O. B.; Morais, S. M.; Lima, A.; Martins, C. G.; Alexandrino, C. D.; Ferreira, P. A. T.; Rodrigues, A. L. M.; Rodrigues, S. P.; Thomaz, J. C. A.; Silva, J. N. and Rodrigues, L. L. 2014. Chemical composition, fatty acid profile and bioactive compounds of guava seeds (Psidium guajava L.). Food Science and Technology 34:485-492. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-457x.6339
https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-457x.6339...
). Additionally, GAW is rich in polyphenols, such as tannins (2-4%), which have a great antioxidant activity and may provide beneficial effects on protein metabolism in ruminants (Khalifa et al., 2016Khalifa, I.; Barakat, H.; El-Mansy, H. A. and Soliman, S. A. 2016. Influencing of guava processing residues incorporation on cupcake characterization. Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences 6:513. https://doi.org/10.4172/2155-9600.1000513
https://doi.org/10.4172/2155-9600.100051...
; Costa et al., 2018Costa, R. G.; Ribeiro, N. L.; Nobre, P. T.; Carvalho, F. F.; Medeiros, A. N.; Cruz, G. R. and Freire, L. F. 2018. Biochemical and hormonal parameters of lambs using guava (Psidium guajava L.) agro-industrial waste in the diet. Tropical Animal Health and Production 50:217-221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-017-1406-5
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-017-1406-...
). The antioxidant properties of polyphenols have been extensively studied (Lorenzo et al., 2018Lorenzo, J. M.; Pateiro, M.; Domínguez, R.; Barba, F. J.; Putnik, P.; Kovačević, D. B.; Shpigelman, A.; Granato, D. and Franco, D. 2018. Berries extracts as natural antioxidants in meat products: A review. Food Research International 106:1095-1104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2017.12.005
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2017.1...
; Pateiro et al., 2018Pateiro, M.; Vargas, F. C.; Chincha, A. I. A.; Sant'Ana, A. S.; Strozzi, I.; Rocchetti, G.; Barba, F. J.; Domínguez, R.; Lucini, L.; Sobral, P. J. A. and Lorenzo, J. M. 2018. Guarana seed extracts as a useful strategy to extend the shelf life of pork patties: UHPLC-ESI/QTOF phenolic profile and impact on microbial inactivation, lipid and protein oxidation and antioxidant capacity. Food Research International 114:55-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2018.07.047
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2018.0...
). In this regard, polyphenols added to the feed of ruminant animals are subjected to the effect of chewing, rumen bacteria, and microbial gut metabolism before being absorbed in the small intestine, metabolized in the liver, and finally deposed in the tissues (Vasta and Luciano, 2011Vasta, V. and Luciano, G. 2011. The effects of dietary consumption of plants secondary compounds on small ruminants' products quality. Small Ruminant Research 101:150-159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2011.09.035
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.20...
). The GAW has low degradability in the ruminal environment, which may interfere with the availability of nutrients (carbohydrates and proteins) for the production of microbial protein due to the high contents of anti-nutritional components such as tannin and lignin, thereby reducing the digestibility of the feed (Chang et al., 2014Chang, Y. P.; Tan, M. P.; Lok, W. L.; Pakianathan, S. and Supramaniam, Y. 2014. Making use of guava seed (Psidium guajava L): The effects of pre-treatments on its chemical composition. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition 69:43-49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-013-0396-3
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-013-0396-...
).

Diets with high levels of rapidly fermentable carbohydrates tend to produce high levels of volatile fatty acids (Costa et al., 2008Costa, S. F.; Pereira, M. N.; Melo, L. Q.; Resende Júnior, J. C. and Chaves, M. L. 2008. Alterações morfológicas induzidas por butirato, propionato e lactato sobre a mucosa ruminal e a epiderme de bezerros – I Aspectos histológicos. Arquivo Brasileiro de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia 60:1-9. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-09352008000100001
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-0935200800...
), thereby providing greater development of the ruminal epithelium, and more specifically the papillae. On the other hand, GAW contains a high content of ether extract (EE; 10.8%) in the seeds (Lira et al., 2011Lira, R. C.; Rabello, C. B. V.; Silva, E. P.; Ferreira, P. V.; Ludke, M. C. M. M. and Costa, E. V. 2011. Chemical composition and energy value of guava and tomato wastes for broilers chickens at different ages. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia 40:1019-1024. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1516-35982011000500012
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1516-3598201100...
), which is digested and absorbed in the small intestine, thus altering the structure of the intestinal mucosa.

The hypothesis of our study is that increasing levels of guava agroindustrial waste in sheep feed modifies ruminal parameters as well as the morphometry of the rumen. Therefore, objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different inclusion levels of GAW on the ruminal parameters, pH, N-NH3, microbial protein, and morphometry of the rumen and intestine of lambs.

Material and Methods

Research on animals was conducted according to the institutional committee on animal use (case no. 2305/14). The trial was conducted in Bananeiras, Paraíba state, Brazil (6°41′11″ latitude, 35°37′41″ longitude, and 552 m altitude). The air temperature (black globe temperature, BGT) was 24.97 °C, and relative humidity was 76.4 8% in the stalls.

Forty non-castrated male animals of the Santa Inês breed were used, with an average initial weight of 21.3±2.62 kg and an average age of 120 days. The animals were divided into individual stalls (1.50 m²) with slatted and suspended floors. The animals had free access to feed and water, and were distributed in a completely randomized design with four inclusion levels (0, 7.5, 15, 22.5, and 30% in dry matter) of GAW.

The experiment lasted 63 days, 15 of which were for adaptation to the feeds, facilities, and management. The diet was provided with a forage:concentrate ratio of 50:50, to provide a gain of 250 g day−1, as recommended by the NRC (2007)NRC - National Research Council. 2007. Nutrient requirements of small ruminants: sheep, goats, cervids, and new world camelids. National Academy of Science, Washington, DC.. Tifton 85 hay (Cynodon dactylon L.) was replaced with dehydrated and ground GAW at levels of 0, 7.5, 15, 22.5, and 30% in the dry matter of the diets that contained ground corn, soybean meal, and a vitamin and mineral supplement (Table 1). The experimental diet was offered ad libitum at 07:30 and 16:30 h as a complete mixture.

Table 1
Percentage and chemical composition of experimental diets

The samples taken from the piles were immediately frozen in a refrigerator for further analysis. They were thawed and pre-dried in forced air at 55 °C for 72 h and was ground to a mesh size of a 1-mm sieve knife mill and packed into plastic bags. We estimated the DM (method 934.01; AOAC, 2005AOAC - Association of Official Analytical Chemists. 2005. Official methods of analysis. 17th ed. AOAC, Arlington, VA.), CP (Kjeldahl method, method 984.13; AOAC, 2005AOAC - Association of Official Analytical Chemists. 2005. Official methods of analysis. 17th ed. AOAC, Arlington, VA.), EE (method 920.39; AOAC, 2005AOAC - Association of Official Analytical Chemists. 2005. Official methods of analysis. 17th ed. AOAC, Arlington, VA.), crude fiber (method 978.10; AOAC, 2005AOAC - Association of Official Analytical Chemists. 2005. Official methods of analysis. 17th ed. AOAC, Arlington, VA.), ash content (method 942.05; AOAC, 2005AOAC - Association of Official Analytical Chemists. 2005. Official methods of analysis. 17th ed. AOAC, Arlington, VA.), NDF (method of Holst, 1973Holst, D. O. 1973. Holst filtration apparatus for Van Soest detergent fiber analysis. Journal of AOAC 56:1352-1356.), and ADF (method 973.18; AOAC, 2005AOAC - Association of Official Analytical Chemists. 2005. Official methods of analysis. 17th ed. AOAC, Arlington, VA.). The total carbohydrate (TC) content was estimated using the equation proposed by Sniffen et al. (1992)Sniffen, C. J.; O'Connor, J. D.; Van Soest, P.; Fox, D. G. and Russell, J. B. 1992. A net carbohydrate and protein system for evaluating cattle diets: II. Carbohydrate and protein availability. Journal of Animal Science 70:3562-3577. https://doi.org/10.2527/1992.70113562x
https://doi.org/10.2527/1992.70113562x...
: TC=100(%CP+%EE+%ash). Non-fibrous carbohydrates (NFC) were estimated using the equation proposed by Mertens (1997)Mertens, D. R. 1997. Creating a system for meeting the fiber requirements of dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 80:1463-1481. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(97)76075-2
https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(9...
: NFC=100(%CP+%EE+%DM+%NDF). Estimation of total digestible nutrients (TDN) was based on the equation described by Weiss (1999)Weiss, W. P. 1999. Energy prediction equations for ruminant feeds. p.176-185. In: Proceedings of the 61st Cornell Nutrition conference for feed manufacture. Cornell University, Ithaca.: TDN=CPD+EED×2.25+NFCD+NDFcpD; in this equation, CPD = (CP ingested − CP feces), EED = (EE ingested – EE feces), NFCD = (NFC ingested − NFC feces), and NDFcpD = (NDFcp ingested − NDFcp feces). To calculate the metabolizable energy (ME) (kcal ME/kg DM), the digestible energy (DE) was initially calculated as the product between the content of total digestive nutrients (TDN) and the factor 4.409/100, considering the ME concentration of 82% of DE (Silva and Leão, 1979Silva, J. F. C. and Leão, M. I. 1979. Fundamentos de nutrição de ruminantes. Livroceres, Piracicaba. 380p.).

To determine the concentration of total tannins (TT), the butanol-HCl method described by Terrill et al. (1992)Terrill, T. H.; Rowan, A. M.; Douglas, G. B. and Barry, T. N. 1992. Determination of extractable and bound condensed tannin concentration in forage plants, protein concentrate meals and cereal grains. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 58:321-329. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.2740580306
https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.2740580306...
was used; the result was converted to % relative to the black jurema tannin, based on the regression equation of the standard curve made from the purified black jurema condensed tannin according to the methodology proposed by Guimarães-Beelen et al. (2006)Guimarães-Beelen, P. M.; Berchielli, T. T.; Beelen, R. and Medeiros, A. N. 2006. Influence of condensed tannins from Brazilian semi-arid legumes on ruminal degradability, microbial colonization and enzymatic activity in Saanen goats. Small Ruminant Research 61:35-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2005.01.007
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.20...
.

The samples were taken from 40 animals. For the determination of pH, N-NH3 concentration and microbial protein (MP) of rumen liquid were assessed. Samples were collected manually through the esophageal tube and filtered through gauze. The collection times were 0 (before morning feed) and 4 h after the morning feed. The pH of the ruminal liquid was measured immediately after collection using a portable digital potentiometer. The ruminal liquid samples were placed in three 1.5-mL Eppendorf tubes, freezing them shortly afterwards for further analysis.

The concentrations of N-NH3 were determined according to the method of Chaney and Marbach (1962)Chaney, A. L. and Marbach, E. P. 1962. Modified reagents for determination of urea and ammonia. Clinical Chemistry 8:130-132. https://doi.org/10.1093/clinchem/8.2.130
https://doi.org/10.1093/clinchem/8.2.130...
. Both methods are based on colorimetry, using a spectrophotometer with the wavelengths of 630 and 660 nm, respectively. For the analysis of ruminal liquid samples frozen in Eppendorf tubes, they were thawed, then centrifuged in the Eppendorf tubes of 1.5 mL at 12,000 rpm (161 × g) for 10 min, and the supernatant was transferred to a new Eppendorf tube and frozen for the further analysis of ammonia and soluble protein (peptides and amino acids). The sediments resulting from the above procedure were resuspended in saline (0.9% NaCl) and centrifuged at 12,000 rpm (161 × g) for 10 min, twice consecutively. Finally, they were resuspended in distilled water up to the volume of 0.6 mL, homogenized, and frozen for the later analysis of microbial protein, by means of the Bradford (1976)Bradford, M. M. 1976. A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Analytical Biochemistry 72:248-254. https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-2697(76)90527-3
https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-2697(76)905...
method.

For the analysis of volatile fatty acids (VFA), 2.0 mL of culture medium sample was removed from all experimental units after 48 h of incubation and placed in Eppendorf tubes, which were centrifuged at 5,200 × g for 10 min; the supernatant was then frozen for VFA on a High-Performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC) (brand SHIMADZU, model SPD-10A VP), coupled to an ultra violet (UV) detector, using a wavelength of 210 nm. A SHIMADZU C18 column with a diameter of 30 cm × 7.9 mm was used, with a flow in the column of 0.6 mL/min. At a pressure of 69 kgf, 20 μL of the mobile phase of water in 1% orthophosphoric acid was injected. Concentrations of VFA acetate, propionate, and butyrate were analyzed.

For the morphometric analyses of the rumen papillae length (RPL = from base to apex), rumen papillae width (RPW = in the middle region of the papilae), rumen papillae area (RPA=RPL×RPW), rumen muscle thickness (RMT), and intestinal mucosal height (IMH), six animals per treatment were used. Five photomicrographies per animal were scanned with a 5X objective on an Olympus Cellsens Dimension BX-60 microscope and Zeiss AxioCam camera coupled with a Motic Image Plus 2.0 digital image capture program for each organ analyzed. In each photomicrograph, two measurements were performed for each variable and organ, with a “n” of 60 per treatment (six animals × five photomicrographies × two measurements) for each variable (Lima et al., 2019Lima, T. J.; Costa, R. G.; Medeiros, G. R.; Medeiros, A. N.; Ribeiro, N. L.; Oliveira, J. S.; Guerra, R. R. and Carvalho, F. F. R. 2019. Ruminal and morphometric parameters of the rumen and intestines of sheep fed with increasing levels of spineless cactus (Nopalea cochenillifera Salm-Dyck). Tropical Animal Health and Production 51:363-368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-018-1697-1
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-018-1697-...
).

The N-NH3, protein, pH, and VFA data were evaluated by means of analysis of variance; the means were compared by Tukey's test at 5% probability using the General Linear Model (GLM) procedure, and regression analysis were undertaken using the REG procedure of SAS (Statistical Analysis System, version 9.2). The following mathematical model was used:

(1) Y ijk = μ + Z i + β j + ij + ε ijk′

in which Yijk is the dependent variable; μ is the overall mean; Zi = is the effect of level i of factor Z (i=1, 2, , I); βj = is the effect of level j of factor β (j=1, 2, , J); Zβij = is the effect of the interaction between level i of factor Z and level j of factor β; and εijk is the random error, considering mean 0 and variance σ2.

For the morphometric variables, the Graph Prisma 5.0 program was used.

Results

The ruminal pH, N-NH3, and MP parameters (Table 2) showed a significant effect of the treatments. The GAW levels in the diets linearly influenced the ruminal pH, both for fasting animals (P = 0.0445), and for postprandial animals (P = 0.0244). In relation to the ruminal N-NH3, a difference was observed only for fasting animals (N-NH3 mM 0 h), showing a quadratic tendency (P<0.0001), with a maximum point of 40 mM, for the level of 12.34%.

Table 2
pH, concentration of ammonia nitrogen (N-NH3), and microbial protein (MP) of rumen liquid of Santa Inês sheep fed guava agroindustrial waste (GAW)

The results regarding ruminal fermentation parameters (Table 3) showed that, even in the fasting animals (0 h), there was a linear regression (P<0.05) of acetic and butyric acid concentrations. In the samples of ruminal liquid from the animals after 4 h of feeding, where the maximum production of VFA in the rumen was found, only the propionic acid presented a dietary effect (P<0.05), showing that there was a higher proportion of NFC in the diets at from 15% GAW.

Table 3
Parameters of ruminal fermentation in Santa Inês sheep fed guava agroindustrial waste

In the morphometric characteristics of the rumen (Figure 1), a quadratic effect was observed for the width of the papilla (P<0.05), estimating a maximum value of 393.33 μm for the level of 34.4% GAW in the diet. For the papilla length, no significant differences were observed (P>0.05). However, the area of papilla absorption had a linear decreasing effect (P = 0.0193), in which increasing levels of GAW in the diet represented a smaller absorption area.

Figure 1
Width, length, absorption area of rumen papillae, and thickness of muscle layer of ovine rumen as a function of inclusion levels of guava agroindustrial waste in experimental diets.

The thickness of the muscular layer of the rumen was higher in the control treatment; however, a quadratic effect was observed with negative inflection when GAW was included in the diet (P<0.0001), obtaining the lowest layer thickness of 850.87 μm at 28.87%.

The thickness of the intestinal mucosa (Figure 2) had a quadratic effect with negative inflection (P = 0.0012), in which the increase started at the level of 7.13%, obtaining a mucosal thickness of 810 μm. In this way, the largest contact surface with feed found in this research was at the level of 30% (2158.9 μm); that is, 142% increase from the minimum point.

Figure 2
Thickness of the intestinal mucosa of ovine rumen as a function of inclusion levels of guava agroindustrial waste in experimental diets.

Discussion

The pH is a parameter that has a close relationship to the type of feed consumed by the animal, i.e., diets with a larger particle size results in higher rumen pH (Beharka et al., 1998Beharka, A. A.; Nagaraja, T. G.; Morrill, J. L.; Kennedy, G. A. and Klemm, R. D. 1998. Effect of form of the diet on anatomical, microbial, and fermentative development of the rumen of neonatal calves. Journal of Dairy Science 81:1946-1955. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(98)75768-6
https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(9...
). In the diets used, GAW has lower fiber effectiveness than Tifton hay. This waste presents 0.58 g/100 g of pectin (Uchôa-Thomaz et al., 2014Uchôa-Thomaz, A. M. A.; Sousa, E. C.; Carioca, J. O. B.; Morais, S. M.; Lima, A.; Martins, C. G.; Alexandrino, C. D.; Ferreira, P. A. T.; Rodrigues, A. L. M.; Rodrigues, S. P.; Thomaz, J. C. A.; Silva, J. N. and Rodrigues, L. L. 2014. Chemical composition, fatty acid profile and bioactive compounds of guava seeds (Psidium guajava L.). Food Science and Technology 34:485-492. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-457x.6339
https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-457x.6339...
), which provides a healthier ruminal environment than starch by not producing lactic acid, whose fermentation pattern lowers pH. Ruminants are prone to metabolic disorders such as acidosis and bloat in intensive systems (Peixoto et al., 2015Peixoto, E. L. T.; Morenz, M. J. F.; Fonseca, C. E. M.; Moura, E. S.; Lima, K. R.; Lopes, F. C. F. and Cabral, L. S. 2015. Citrus pulp in lamb diets: intake, digestibility, and ruminal parameters. Semina: Ciências Agrárias 36:3421-3430.).

The sources and amounts of carbohydrate and nitrogen in the diet can determine N-NH3 concentrations since the ability of bacteria to synthesize proteins and the use of ammonia depends on the fermentation rate of carbohydrates (Van Soest, 1994Van Soest, P. J. 1994. Nutritional ecology of the ruminant. 2nd ed. Cornell University, Ithaca.).

It was observed that the concentration of MP mg/dL after 4 h in the GAW diets is practically double the MP mg/dL at time 0 h, whereas the concentration of N-NH3 did not show a big difference between the pre- and postprandial periods. The concentrations of MP at the fasting time were higher in the treatments with the inclusion of GAW. However, a quadratic effect with a maximum point at the level of 14.39% GAW was observed when MP was 143.15 mg/dL, showing that the amount of MP began to decrease gradually from this level with the inclusion of GAW in the diets. Postharvest animals presented the same behavior, with a quadratic positive effect with maximum points at the level of 8.42% GAW and MP of 265.92 mg/dL. It is important to emphasize that the diets were isoproteic and, therefore, this decrease in MP with the inclusion of GAW in the diet is justified due to the low degradability of GAW, since it consists of high levels of anti-nutritional factors such as tannin (6.6%) and lignin (19.5%), which hinders fiber degradability. In addition, the GAW has a smaller particle size and a higher density of specific mass than Tifton hay, thus increasing the rate of passage and decreasing the retention time of the feed in the digestive tract.

Acetic acid ranged from 122.35 mmol/L in the control treatment to 43.99 mmol/L in the treatment with 30% GAW in the diet, and butyric acid from 9.58 mmol/L in the control treatment, to 2.17 mmol/L at the level of 30% GAW. The type of VFA produced in the rumen is related to the composition of the diet. Regardless of the pre- or postprandial collection period, acetic acid has always been shown to be at a higher concentration than the other short chain fatty acids studied.

The reduction in the concentration of butyric acid, when GAW is included in the diet, may be related to the increase of fat in the diets. These results are in agreement with Patra (2014)Patra, A. K. 2014. A meta-analysis of the effect of dietary fat on enteric methane production, digestibility and rumen fermentation in sheep, and a comparison of these responses between cattle and sheep. Livestock Science 162:97-103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2014.01.007
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2014.01...
meta-analysis, which showed a negative effect of increasing fat levels on sheep diets in the proportion of butyrate, probably due to the inhibition of microorganisms (protozoa and Butyvibrio fibrisolvens) involved in their production (Hristov et al., 2009Hristov, A. N.; Vander Pol, M.; Agle, M.; Zaman, S.; Schneider, C.; Ndegwa, P.; Vaddella, V. K.; Johnson, K.; Shingfield, K. J. and Karnati, S. K. R. 2009. Effect of lauric acid and coconut oil on ruminal fermentation, digestion, ammonia losses from manure, and milk fatty acid composition in lactating cows. Journal of Dairy Science 92:5561-5582. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2009-2383
https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2009-2383...
).

This is due to changes in the acetate:rumen propionate ratio (Firkins et al., 2006Firkins, J. L.; Hristov, A. N.; Hall, M. B.; Varga, G. A. and St-Pierre, N. R. 2006. Integration of ruminal metabolism in dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science 89:E31-E51. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(06)72362-1
https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(0...
). In addition, the presence of unsaturated lipids in rations, as in the case of the treatments with higher GAW content, can stimulate the ruminal bacteria to produce propionate (Van Nevel and Demeyer, 1988Van Nevel, C. J. and Demeyer, D. I. 1988. Manipulation of rumen fermentation. p.387-443. In: The rumen microbial ecosystem. Hobson, P. N., ed. Elsevier Science, New York.).

The energy intake of experimental diets may explain this decrease in absorption area. Diets with higher levels of GAW contain lower energy levels, and the development of ruminal papillae are directly related to the total production of volatile fatty acids. In the present study, the use of propionate (Gálfi et al., 1993Gálfi, P.; Gabel, G. and Martens, H. 1993. Influences of intracellular matriz components on the growth and differentiation of ruminal epithelial cells in primary culture. Research in Veterinary Science 54:102-109. https://doi.org/10.1016/0034-5288(93)90018-B
https://doi.org/10.1016/0034-5288(93)900...
) and butyrate stimulate papillary growth, a fact that does not occur with acetate (Tamate et al., 1962Tamate, H.; McGilliard, A. D.; Jacobson, N. L. and Getty, R. 1962. Effect of various dietaries on the anatomical development of the stomach in the calf. Journal of Dairy Science 45:408-420. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(62)89406-5
https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(6...
). This corroborates the results of this research, since the pectin present in GAW provided increased acetate production (Liu et al., 2015Liu, J.; Pu, Y. Y.; Xie, Q.; Wang, J. K. and Liu, J. X. 2015. Pectin induces na in vitro rumen microbial population shift attributed to the pectinolytic Treponema Group. Current Microbiology 70:67-74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-014-0672-y
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-014-0672-...
), interfering significantly with the development of the papillae.

This decrease in the muscular layer is probably directly related to the nature of the dietary fiber since the diet NDF did not differ. The control treatment consists exclusively of hay as a source of forage, and this feed has a greater amount of effective fiber than GAW, with a particle size that has a direct relation to the ruminoreticular motility. That is, the larger the food particles, the greater the ruminal motility, which in turn increases the development of the muscular layer; therefore, the decrease of hay in the feed reduced the muscular layer of the rumen.

Increasing levels of lipids (Table 3), according to the increase in GAW in the diet, favored this increase in the intestinal mucosa, since mucosal increases are associated with a greater supply of energy (Montanholi et al., 2013Montanholi, Y.; Fontoura, A.; Swanson, K.; Coomber, B.; Yamashiro, S. and Miller, S. 2013. Small intestine histomorphometry of beef cattle with divergent feed efficiency. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 55:9. https://doi.org/10.1186/1751-0147-55-9
https://doi.org/10.1186/1751-0147-55-9...
), providing longer villi and resulting in increased capacity of nutrient absorption by the intestine (Wang et al., 2009Wang, Y. H.; Xu, M.; Wang, F. N.; Yu, Z. P.; Yao, J. H.; Zan, L. S. and Yang, F. X. 2009. Effect of dietary starch on rumen and small intestine morphology and digesta pH in goats. Livestock Science 122:48-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2008.07.024
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2008.07...
).

Conclusions

The inclusion of guava agroindustrial waste in the diet of Santa Inês sheep favors pH neutrality, increases the concentration of propionic acid and N-NH3, decreases the concentration of microbial protein, and reduces the thickness of the muscular layer, but increases the intestinal mucosa, allowing a greater nutrient absorption.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for financing the Project, and the Universidade Federal da Paraíba - Brazil (UFPB).

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    07 Aug 2020
  • Date of issue
    2020

History

  • Received
    27 May 2019
  • Accepted
    09 June 2020
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