Effects of Supplementation of Piper sarmentosum Leaf Powder on Feed Efficiency, Rumen Ecology and Rumen Protozoal Concentration in Thai Native Beef Cattle

SIMPLE SUMMARY: This work was to study the influence of Piper sarmentosum (PS) leaf powder supplementation in cattle diet. It was found that supplementation of PS leaf powder at 2.4 g/d resulted in improving total feed intake and dry matter (DM) digestibility whereas there was reduced protozoal population and methane (CH(4)) production in cattle. ABSTRACTS: The aim of this research was to study the influence of inclusion of Piper sarmentosum (PS) leaf powder on feed efficiency, rumen ecology, protozoal diversity and CH(4) emission in cattle. Four male beef cattle (1–1.5 years old) with similar initial body weights (BW) of 150 ± 20.00 kg were randomly assigned to a 4 × 4 Latin squared design. Experimental diets consisted of four levels of PS leaf powder supplementation at 0 (control), 0.6, 1.2 and 2.4 g/head/d, respectively. Dry matter (DM) intake of rice straw and total intake in terms of g/kg BW(0.75) differed among treatments and were linearly greatest when PS was added at 2.4 g/head/d (p < 0.05). PS leaf powder did not affect the intake of nutrients and digestibility of organic matter, crude protein, and fibers. Nevertheless, digestibility of DM was found to increase by 4.8% in cattle when added at 2.4 g/head/d as compared to the other control treatments. PS leaf powder did not affect ruminal pH, ruminal temperature, ammonia–nitrogen concentration and blood urea-nitrogen (p > 0.05). The bacterial population was similar across PS levels (p > 0.05). However, the protozoal count was lower in animals fed with the supplement at 2.4 g/head/d (p < 0.05). The PS leaf powder did not affect total volatile fatty acid (VFA) and acetic acid (C2), butyric acid (C4), C2 to propionic acid (C3) and C2 to C3 to C4. However, concentration of C3 at 4 h post feeding and mean value linearly increased with supplementation of PS leaf powder at 2.4 g/d. The 4 h post-feeding and mean values of CH(4) concentration were linearly reduced with PS supplementation (p < 0.05). An increase of PS leaf powder at 2.4 g decreased CH(4) after feeding 4 h by 21.33% when compared to no PS leaf powder. Thus, supplementation of PS leaf powder at 2.4 g in ruminant feeding is recommended for manipulating rumen efficiency.