Rumen microbial and fermentation characteristics are affected differently by acarbose addition during two nutritional types of simulated severe subacute ruminal acidosis in vitro

Abstract Little information is available on whether or not the effect of an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor on the prevention of ruminal acidosis is influenced by the type of diet during ruminant feeding. This study was conducted to explore the effect of acarbose addition on the prevention of severe subacute ruminal acidosis induced by either cracked wheat or beet pulp in vitro . Cracked wheat and beet pulp were fermented in vitro by rumen microorganisms obtained from three dairy cows. When cracked wheat was used as the substrate and fermented for 24 h, compared with the control, acarbose addition decreased the concentrations of acetate, propionate, butyrate, total volatile fatty acids, and lactate (P   0.05) on the fermentation parameters and the Chao 1 value, the Shannon index, and the proportion of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. In general, these findings indicate that acarbose had more effects on ruminal fermentation when wheat was used as the substrate, whereas it exhibited little effect on ruminal fermentation when beet pulp was used as the substrate.