Table 1. Twenty four-hr mean pH, total volatile fatty acid (VFA), individual VFA proportions, acetic acid-to-propionic acid (A/P) ratio, lactic acid concentrations, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activity in Japanese Black beef cattle (n=9) during the fattening stages.
| Item | Stage |
P-valuea | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early | Middle | Late | |||
| 24-hr mean pH | 6.22 ± 0.06 | 6.06 ± 0.08 | 5.73 ± 0.13 | 0.031 | |
| Total VFA (mmol/dl) | 13.1 ± 0.59 | 12.3 ± 0.80 | 9.77 ± 0.76 | 0.057 | |
| Acetate (%) | 62.6 ± 2.04 | 57.1 ± 1.53 | 58.6 ± 1.50 | 0.329 | |
| Propionate (%) | 21.4 ± 1.81 | 27.1 ± 2.23 | 27.1 ± 2.21 | 0.187 | |
| Butyrate (%) | 11.9 ± 1.04 | 12.7 ± 0.86 | 11.2 ± 0.85 | 0.154 | |
| A/P ratio | 3.05 ± 0.22 | 2.24 ± 0.21 | 2.34 ± 0.28 | 0.154 | |
| Lactic acid (mg/l) | 67.9 ± 0.01 | 25.0 ± 0.00 | 141.4 ± 0.01 | <0.001 | |
| LPS (EU×104/ml) | 1.34 ± 0.39 | 4.29 ± 1.82 | 6.62 ± 2.24 | 0.048 | |
aFriedman test was used to determine within-group differences.