Table 3.
The effects of breed and sex on serum rumen fermentation of cattle.
| Item 3 | AY 1 | YL 2 | Pooled SEM |
p Value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heifers | Steers | Heifers | Steers | Breed | Sex | B × S | ||
| pH value | 6.50 | 6.65 | 6.73 | 6.68 | 0.062 | 0.046 | 0.419 | 0.128 |
| Ammonia-N (mg/dL) | 3.95b | 3.72b | 3.07b | 5.76a | 0.554 | 0.303 | 0.032 | 0.012 |
| VFA (mmol/d) | ||||||||
| TVFA | 119.8 | 120.7 | 105.0 | 121.0 | 8.01 | 0.374 | 0.302 | 0.350 |
| Acetate | 75.4 | 75.0 | 67.5 | 77.4 | 5.30 | 0.606 | 0.377 | 0.342 |
| Propionate | 25.3 | 26.4 | 21.8 | 23.3 | 1.82 | 0.081 | 0.491 | 0.908 |
| Isobutyrate | 1.05 | 1.23 | 0.94 | 1.70 | 0.203 | 0.385 | 0.027 | 0.156 |
| Butyrate | 14.4 | 14.1 | 11.7 | 14.7 | 1.00 | 0.292 | 0.188 | 0.120 |
| Isovalerate | 2.39 | 2.53 | 1.90 | 2.52 | 0.202 | 0.222 | 0.070 | 0.250 |
| Valerate | 1.34 | 1.41 | 1.17 | 1.51 | 0.090 | 0.680 | 0.033 | 0.141 |
| Acetate/propionate | 2.96 | 2.90 | 3.14 | 3.37 | 0.145 | 0.030 | 0.555 | 0.334 |
1 AY, Angus × Yiling cattle; 2 YL, Yiling cattle; 3 VFA, volatile fatty acids; TVFA, total volatile fatty acids. Means followed by different letters in the same row are significant at the p < 0.05.