Table 3. Effect of fungi-based products on ruminant performance.

Animal/study design	Diet	Product	Dose	Effects†	Reference
Awassi lambs and Shami goat kids	High concentrate diet	S. cerevisiae	12.6 g yeast/ton of diet	↕ Growth performance of lambs and kids. ↑ Fat content in the carcass. ↕ Digestibility of DM, CP and NDF. ↑ Digestibility of OM and ADF. ↕ N intake, output or retention. ↕ DM intake. ↓ Hot carcass weight, cold dressing proportion and total muscle/bone ratio in lambs. ↑ Empty digestive tract weight in lambs. ↑ Digestibility of nutrient in kids. ↕ Growth, feed intake or feed conversion ratio of fattening lambs and kids.	[81]
Multiparous Holstein cows	F:C at 60:40	Active dry S. cerevisiae yeast	0.5 g of active dry yeast/cow daily (1010 CFU daily)	↑ Ruminal pH. ↑ Ruminal butyrate concentration. ↕ DM intake. ↕ Ruminal ammonia-N. ↕ Ruminal VFA.	[50]
Rambouillet lambs	Forage and concentrate	S. cerevisiae	0.25 and 0.35 mg Cr-yeast or 0.3 mg Se-yeast/lamb daily	↓ Fat in the carcass. ↑ Average daily weight gain. ↑ Final body weight. ↕ Daily weight gain and total weight gain. ↕ Feed intake, and feed conversion.	[82]
Crossbred young bulls (Zebu × European)	F:C at 44:56	S. cerevisiae	15 g of yeast per bull daily	↑ Linolenic acid concentration in meat. ↓ n6:n3 ratio in meat. ↑ α-linolenic fatty acid. ↑ α-linolenic, arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic, docosapentaenoic, docosahexaenoic and n-3 fatty acids in meat. ↕ SFA, poly UFA, n-6 fatty acids and n-3.	[83]
Lambs	High concentrate diet	Live yeast cultures (Kluyveromyces marximanus, S. cerevisiae, Saccharomyces uvarum)	1.5×109 to 2.0 × 109 CFU per kg live weight	↑ Ciliate protozoa. ↑ Feed intake. ↑ Growth rate. ↑ Entodinomorphs population. ↕ Half carcass weight. ↕ Carcass traits. ↓ Fluid pH and total VFA with concentration with S. uvarum. ↑ Ruminal Diplodinomorphs population with S. uvarum. ↑ Proteases activity ↓ α-amylase activity with K. marximanus and S. cerevisiae. ↕ Carboxymethyle cellulase activity.	[84]
Kamieniecka lambs	Hay silage and concentrate	S. cerevisiae	50 g/kg concentrate daily	↑ Protein content. ↓ Cooking loss. ↑ Water-holding capacity of meat. ↑ cis-9, trans-11 CLA, C14:1, C18:2 and C22:6 fatty acids in the intramuscular fat.	[85]
Kamieniec rams	Forage and concentrate	S. cerevisiae	50 g yeast/kg of diet	↑ Concentration of C14:1, C18:2, C22:6, C18:2 (cis-9 trans-11) in meat. ↑ Vitamin A content of meat. ↑ Intramuscular fat. ↑ Fat, cholesterol, and vitamin E of meat.	[86]
Santa Ines lambs	F:C at 40:60	Inactive dry S. cerevisiae yeast	Inactive dry yeast at 4.87, 9.73, and 14.60% of diets	↕ Ruminal pH ↓ The subcutaneous fat thickness. ↑ Meat crude protein and ash. ↕ Growth performance.	[87]
Holstein Friesian cows	Concentrate	S. cerevisiae	2.5 g yeast/cow daily (2.5 1010 CFU daily)	↑ Milk yield. ↕ Milk composition. ↕ Milk pH.	[88]
Finnish Ayrshire cows	F:C at 50:50	S. cerevisiae	0.5 g live yeast/cow daily (1010 CFU/cow daily)	↕ Animal performance. ↕ Rumen fermentation. ↕ Milk yield. ↕ Milk composition. ↕ Milk fatty acids. ↕ DM intake. ↕ Ruminal gas production. ↕ Apparent total-tract nutrient digestibility. ↕ Ruminal CH4 emission.	[46]
In vitro (Rumen inoculum was collected from Brown Swiss cows)	F:C at 50:50	Live cells or cells extract of S. cerevisiae	Live cells at 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 mg/g DM or cells extract at 1, 2 and 4 mg/g	↑ Asymptotic gas production with the extract. ↕ DM degradability. ↑ CH4, metabolizable energy and total VFA with cell extract.	[89]
Barki lambs	F:C at 70:30	Trichoderma reesei or S. cerevisiae	0.5 g/kg DM feed	↓ Feed intake. ↑ Feed conversion efficiency. ↑ Ruminal VFA. ↑ Blood albumin and urea concentrations. ↑ Dressing percentage. ↓ Intramuscular fat weights. ↕ Histology of the ileum, sub mucosa and Peyer's patches.	[44]
Pelibuey sheep	Total mixed ration	Selenium-enriched S. cerevisiae yeast	0.35 and 0.60 mg Se/kg DM	↕ Microbiological variables (aerobic plate counts, total coliform counts and fecal coliform counts). ↕ Carcasses microbial growth. ↕ Carcasses initial and ultimate pH. ↕ Carcasses temperature, color values. ↕ Carcasses water holding capacity.	[90]
Simmental × Luxi F1 crossbred bulls	Forage and concentrate	S. cerevisiae active dry yeasts and yeast cultures	0.8 g dry yeast/bull daily and 50 g yeast culture/bull daily	↕ Intramuscular fat content. ↕ Cholesterol content. ↓ Backfat thickness. ↑ Concentration of free fatty acids in the blood. ↑ Growth performance. ↑ Carcass traits. ↑ Beef tenderness.	[91]
Holstein bull calves in the first 56 d of life	Milk and starter grains (no forage)	S. cerevisiae fermentation products	0.5% and 1% in starter diets and milk	↑ Ruminal Butyrivibrio. ↓ Ruminal Prevotella. ↑ Ruminal butyrate concentration. ↕ Ruminal pH, ammonia-N, and total VFA. ↑ Papilla length in the rumen. ↓ Crypt depth of jejunum. ↑ Villus height-to-crypt depth ratio in the small intestine.	[92]
Rumen-fistulated Holstein dairy cows	F:C at 40:60	Active dried S. cerevisiae	10 g yeast/cow daily (20 × 109 CFU/cow daily)	↑ Fibrobacter succinogenes. ↑ Megasphaera elsdenii. ↕ DM intake. ↕ Ruminal pH characteristics. ↕ Ruminal ammonia-N. ↑ Blood glucose and insulin. ↓ Ruminal protozoa.	[93]
Crossbred Friesian × Baladi calves	Starter concentrate feed	S. cerevisiae	2.5 and 5 g yeast per calf daily.	↑ Feed intake with the high level. ↑ DM and fiber digestibilities. ↓ Ruminal ammonia-N. ↑ Total and individual VFA. ↑ Final weight and daily gain. ↓ Clostridium spp., Escherichia coli and Enterobacteria spp.	[18]
In vitro (Rumen inoculum was collected from sheep)	Two mixed rations with two different levels of CP of 13% and 16% on DM basis	S. cerevisiae	2 and 4 mg/g DM	↑ The asymptotic gas production. ↓ Lag time of gas production. ↕ Rate of GP. ↕ Gas yield at 24 h of incubation, microbial crude protein production, metabolizable energy, partitioning factor at 24 h of incubation. ↕ DM and OM degradability.	[94]
In vitro (Rumen inoculum was collected from sheep)	Total mixed rations	S. cerevisiae	2 and 4 mg/g of DM	↓ Asymptotic gas production. ↓ CH4 production. ↑ CO2 production. ↕ DM degradability.	[48]
Holstein cows	Grass silage and concentrate	S. cerevisiae	0.8 g yeast/cow daily (1 × 1010 CFU/cow daily) and 4.0 g yeast/cow daily (6 × 1010 CFU/cow daily)	↕ Milk yield. ↕ Milk fat ↕ Milk protein. ↕ Milk lactose.	[95]
Nubian lactating does	F:C at 50:50	S. cerevisiae	4 g yeast/doe daily	↑ Feed intake and feed (milk) efficiency. ↑ Milk and energy corrected milk yields. ↑ Concentrations of milk total solids, solids-not-fat, fat, and lactose. ↑ Nutrient digestibility. ↑ Ruminal pH. ↑ Concentrations of ruminal total and individual VFA. ↓ Ruminal ammonia-N. ↑ Blood total proteins, albumin, globulin, and glucose.	[96]
Holstein cows	Forage and concentrate	Yeast S. cerevisiae culture	15 g inactivated dry yeast/cow daily	↑ Milk yield. ↑ Milk fat and lactose concentrations. ↑ Ruminal pH. ↑ Feed efficiency. ↕ DM intake. ↑ Ruminal propionate. ↓ Ruminal ammonia-N. ↑ Microbial N synthesis.	[97]
Malpura lambs	High starch diet (no forage)	S. cerevisiae	Yeast at 9.0 × 107 CFU/kg BW	↕ pH. ↕ Carcass characteristics. ↑ Digestibility of ADF.	[47]
Charolais bulls	High concentrate diet	Live yeast of S. cerevisiae CNCM I-1077	5 g yeast/bull or (1 × 1010 CFU/bull daily)	↕ Ruminal pH. ↑ Acetate and butyrate concentrations. ↑ Acetate:propionate ratio. ↕ Final bodyweight. ↕ Average daily gain. ↑ DM intake. ↕ Carcass weights and dressing. ↑ Carcass graded.	[98]
Dry Holstein cows	F:C at 70:30	Live yeast of S. cerevisiae	3.3 g yeast/kg of diet daily (1 × 1010 CFU/d)	↑ Bacteroidales. ↑ Lachnospiracea. ↑ Flexilinea.	[99]
Holstein steers	F:C at 50:50	S. cerevisiae	Live yeast at 15 g/d	↑ Ruminococcus albus. ↑ Ruminococcus champanellensis. ↑ Ruminococcus bromii. ↑ Ruminococcus obeum. ↑ Megasphaera elsdenii. ↑ Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. ↑ Nitratidesulfovibrio vulgaris.	[70]
Small-tailed Han lambs	Pelleted total mixed rations	S. cerevisiae yeast culture	0.8 and 2.3 g of yeast/kg dietary feed	↑ Linoleic acid concentration in the muscle. ↓ Conversion of linoleic acid to stearic acid. ↑ DM intake. ↑ Carcass weight and dressing percentage. ↕ Growth performance. ↕ Carcass traits.	[100]
Holstein cows	Forage and concentrate	Live S. cerevisiae yeast	5.4 × 1011 CFU yeast daily	↕ Milk yield. ↕ Milk fat, lactose and protein yields. ↕ Milk fat, protein and lactose concentration. ↕ DM intake. ↕ body weight gain. ↓ DM digestibility. ↑ CP, NDF and starch digestibility.	[101]
Holstein cows	Forage and concentrate	S. cerevisiae	4 g yeast/cow daily	↑ Milk yield. ↑ Milk total solid. ↑ Milk fat concentration. ↑ Prepartum DM intake. ↕ After parturition DM intake. ↕ Loss of body condition score from calving to d 21 postpartum. ↕ Glucose tolerance test. ↕ Cellular immune function.	[49]
Qinchuan cattle	F:C at 55:45	S. cerevisiae	1 and 2 g live yeast or 20 g yeast cell wall polysaccharides/cow daily	↑ Digestibility of ADF and NDF. ↑ Fibrobacter succinogenes S85. ↑ Ruminococcus albus. ↑ Ruminococcus flavefaciens FD-1. ↓ Streptococcus bovis JB1. ↑ Average daily gain.
Qinchuan cattle	F:C at 55:45	S. cerevisiae	1 and 2 g live yeast or 20 g yeast cell wall polysaccharides/cow daily	↓ Feed conversion ratio. ↑ Digestibility of NDF and ADF. ↓ Acetic:propionic ratio.	[102]
Rambouillet ram lambs	Concentrates	Chromium enriched S. cerevisiae yeast	0.3 mg Cr enriched yeast/kg feed	↑ Backfat thickness. ↑ Meat pH. ↕ Fatty acid profile of meat.	[103]
Sohagi ewes	Concentrate and forage	Active dry S. cerevisiae	5 or 10 g of yeast per ewe daily	↑ Milk yield. ↑ Milk fat. ↑ Milk protein. ↑ Milk solids non-fats. ↕ Milk lactose and ash. ↑ Blood total protein, albumin, glucose and urea. ↕ Blood globulin, cholesterol, creatinine and alanine aminotransferase concentrations.	[104]
Lactating Holstein cows	F:C at 408:592	S. cerevisiae and/or Aspergillus oryzae	3.5 g per cow daily	↑ Feed intake. ↑ Milk production. ↓ Milk fat content with A. oryzae. ↓ Serum glucose concentration.	[51]
Beef cattle	A meta-analysis	S. cerevisiae	A meta-analysis	↑ Average daily gain. ↑ Carcass weight. ↑ Final body weight.	[105]
Sheep	Concentrates	S. cerevisiae	0.4, 0.8 and 1.2% (w/w) to concentrate	↑ Ruminal enzymatic activity. ↑ Rumen microbiota. ↑ Animal growth intensity. ↑ Production of total nitrogen and amylolytic, proteolytic and cellulolytic activity of the rumen microbiota.	[106]

ADF = acid detergent fiber; CFU = colony forming unit; CH₄ = methane; CO₂ = carbon dioxide; CP = crude protein; DM = dry matter; F:C = Forage:concentrate ratio; NDF = neutral detergent fiber; OM = organic matter; VFA = volatile fatty acids; SFA = saturated fatty acids; UFA = unsaturated fatty acids; ↑ = increased; ↓ = decreased; ↕ = no effect; ^†Effect is relative to control.