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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1556724
This article is part of the Research Topic Unravelling the Unknown of the Rumen Microbiome: Implications for Animal Health, Productivity, and Beyond View all 20 articles
Effects of dietary supplementation with different amounts of Lycium ruthenicum (black goji berry) branch roughage on plasma biochemical indices and rumen microflora of sheep
Provisionally accepted- 1 Feed Research Institute, Xinjiang Academy of Animal Sciences, Urumqi, China
- 2 Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Herbivorous Livestock Feed Biotechnology, Urumqi, China
Abstract: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with roughage derived from black goji berry (Lycium ruthenicum) branches on plasma biochemical indices, and rumen microbiota in sheep. Forty male F1 lambs of Dupo×Lake sheep crossbreeds, approximately four months of age with similar body weight (29.58±2.06 kg) and in good health, were selected and randomly divided into four groups (n=10 per group). The control group was fed a full-mixed pelleted ration, and the experimental groups received the same diet supplemented with 10% (H1), 20% (H2) or 30% (H3) L. ruthenicum branch roughage. The addition of different amounts of L. ruthenicum roughage to the feed significantly increased the apparent digestibility of neutral detergent fiber, and antioxidant and immune indices of the sheep without negative effects on liver function. Additionally, the relative abundance of the gut bacteria NK4A214_group in the Oscillospiraceae family increased linearly and quadratically with the amount of L. ruthenicum roughage added to the diets. This findings suggest that bioactive components (e.g., flavonoids, terpenoids, organic acids) in L. ruthenicum branches may strengthen nutrient digestibility and immune performance by altering the type and abundance of rumen microbiota associated with fiber digestion and immunoregulation. Addition of 20-30% L. ruthenicum branch roughage to sheep fodder remarkably improved the growth performance and overall health.
Keywords: growth performance, rumen microbiota, Sheep, Lycium ruthenicum branch roughage, rumen fermentattion
Received: 07 Jan 2025; Accepted: 18 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 HOU, Ma, Li, Yang, Duan and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Tongjun Guo, Feed Research Institute, Xinjiang Academy of Animal Sciences, Urumqi, China
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