Impacts of red clover and sainfoin silages on the performance, nutrient utilization and milk fatty acids profile of ruminants: A meta‐analysis

• Published in: Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition Vol. 108; no. 1; pp. 13 - 26
• Main Authors: Irawan, Agung, Jayanegara, Anuraga, Niderkorn, Vincent
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.01.2024; Wiley
• Subjects: Alfalfa; Alfalfa silage; animal nutrition; animal physiology; average daily gain; bioactive legume; Cattle; Clover; conjugated linolenic acid; Cow's milk; Dairy cattle; Digestibility; Environment pollution; fatty acid composition; fatty acid profile; Fatty acids; Grass silage; Grasses; growth performance; health promotion; In vivo methods and tests; Life Sciences; Linolenic acid; Meta-analysis; metabolism; Metabolites; Milk; milk fatty acids; neutral detergent fiber; Nitrogen; Nutrient utilization; Onobrychis; Onobrychis viciifolia; pollution; Pollution control; Red clover; ruminant; Secondary metabolites; Silage; statistical models; Synergistic effect; Trifolium pratense; growth performance; ruminant; bioactive legume; fatty acid profile; silage; ruminant silage
• DOI: 10.1111/jpn.13853
• ISSN: 0931-2439; 1439-0396

Inclusion of plants rich in secondary metabolites into grass ensiling offers multiple benefits for ruminants, from improving productive performance to health‐promoting effects as well as helping to reduce environment pollution. The present meta‐analysis summarizes the dietary inclusion levels of red clover silage (RCS) and sainfoin silages (SS) as well as the types of silages fed to dairy cows and small ruminants. A total of 37 in vivo studies (26 articles in dairy cows and 11 articles in small ruminants) were aggregated after being strictly selected using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A mixed model methodology was used to examine our objectives. This method declares the subject 'study' as random effects and 'inclusion level' as fixed effects. Results indicated that RCS proportion was not associated with nutrient digestibility except for a quadratic effect (p < 0.05) on neutral detergent fibre digestibility. Higher RCS inclusion linearly increased (p < 0.05) nitrogen (N) intake but had no effect on dairy cows' production. Increasing RCS proportion altered milk fatty acid profile where the concentration of conjugated linolenic acid (CLA), C18:3 α‐linolenic acid (ALA) and C18:0 linearly increased (p < 0.01). In small ruminants, SS proportion had no relationship with nutrient digestibility, N metabolism and growth performance (p > 0.05). However, a combination of dietary RCS + SS resulted in significantly higher (p < 0.05) CLA and ALA concentration in cow milk and average daily gain (ADG) in small ruminants compared to diets composed from either grass silage or alfalfa silage. Altogether, this meta‐analysis highlights the synergistic effects of a combination of SS + RCS inclusion in improving milk fatty acids (FA) profile of dairy cows and ADG of small ruminants.