PSXI-11 In vitro rumen fermentation characteristics of rumen fluid obtained from grain-fed and grass-fed farmed American Bison

Abstract The objective of this pilot study was to examine the impact of diet type on in vitro rumen fermentation characteristics using rumen fluid collected from grain-fed and grass-fed American Bison (Bison bison). Rumen fluid was collected from 6 farmed American Bison at a commercial slaughter facility. At the time of slaughter, 3 grain-fed heifers (< 3 yr) were randomly selected for rumen fluid collection. On a separate day, 3 grass-fed cows (>3 yr) were randomly selected for rumen fluid collection. Rumen fluid was collected from each animal by obtaining rumen contents and filtering the rumen fluid from the digesta. For a given collection day, rumen fluid from the 3 animals was combined with McDougall’s buffering solution to generate rumen fluid buffer solution (RFB). The RFB was added to each pre-weighed digestion vessels (DV) containing no substrate (blanks) or 0.5 g of ground substrate (grain-based diet or forage-based diet). After filling, the DV were capped with one-way valves and incubated for 0, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h. At the end of each incubation period, DV were centrifuged, and supernatant was removed and analyzed for VFA concentrations. The remaining pellet was dried at 60°C for 24 h to determine dry matter digestibility (DMD). Descriptive statistics were used to describe DMD characteristics for rumen fluid collected from bison from each production system. Linear, quadratic, and cubic responses were analyzed for DMD. Linear, quadratic, and cubic contrasts were used to examine DMD over time. In vitro DMD increased quadratically (P < 0.05) for grain-fed bison and linearly (P < 0.05) for grass-fed bison over time. Final 72 h DMD was 84.5% ± 0.05 and 70.0% ± 0.11 for grain-fed and grass-fed bison, respectively. Final molar proportions of acetate, propionate, isobutyrate, and butyrate were 55.3% ± 0.01, 25.8% ± 0.002, 1.9% ± 0.01, and 17.0% ± 0.001 for grain-fed bison and 31.0% ± 0.02, 41.2 ± 0.02, 3.9% ± 0.01, and 23.2% ± 0.01 for grass-fed bison. Molar proportions of all VFA exhibited a cubic response (P < 0.05) over time for rumen fluid collected from both grain-fed and grass-fed bison. These data provide a preliminary insight into in vitro rumen fermentation characteristics of bison from different production systems.