Effects of silage mulberry leaves replacing whole corn silage on growth performance,slaughter performance,rumen fermentation parameters,and meat quality of beef cattle
SUO Xiaojun
YANG Qianping
ZHANG Nian
TAO Hu
LI Xiaofeng
ZHANG Feng
SHANGGUAN Aishao
XIONG Qi
Abstract：This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of silage mulberry leaves replacing whole silage corn on growth performance,slaughter performance,rumen fermentation parameters,and meat quality of beef cattle.Forty Simmental cattle with a body weight of(320.00±4.25)kg and age of(12±1)months were randomly divided into four groups,10 replicates per group and one cattle per replicate.The cattle in the control group were fed a basal diet,and the others in Groups Ⅰ,Ⅱ and Ⅲ were fed 15％,30％and 45％silage mulberry leaves instead of whole corn silage in the basal diet,respectively.The pre-test lasted for 10 days and the formal test lasted for 90 days.The results showed that the average daily gain of beef cattle in Group Ⅲ was significantly lower than that in the control group and Group Ⅰ(P＜0.05).The average daily feed intake of experimental groups was significantly lower than that of the control group(P＜0.05).The feed to gain ratio of Group Ⅰ was significantly lower than that of the control group and Group Ⅲ(P＜0.05),and the breeding efficiency was the highest.The meat to bone ratio in experimental groups was significantly higher than that in the control group(P＜0.05),and the slaughter rate in Group Ⅰ was significantly higher than that in Groups Ⅱ and Ⅲ(P＜0.05).The brightness(L*value)and redness(a*value)of experimental groups were significantly higher than those of the control group(P＜0.05),and the shear force and drip loss were significantly decreased(P＜0.05).Compared with the control group,the concentrations of ammonia nitrogen,total volatile fatty acid,acetic acid and the ratio of ethylene to propylene in experimental groups were significantly increased(P＜0.05).The study indicates that the use of silage mulberry leaves instead of whole corn silage decreases the average daily feed intake and average daily gain of Simmental cattle,but it can improve slaughter performance,promote rumen fermentation,improve meat quality and breeding efficiency,and the suitable replacement ratio is 15％.
Keywords：silage mulberry leavesbeef cattlegrowth performanceslaughter performancerumen fermentationmeat quality
Publication Date：2025-02-16
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：6( 28-33 )