Stability of rumen-protected choline and lysine products in total mixed rations
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: A technique has been previously described for determination of total mixed ration (TMR) stability of rumen-protected lysine (RPL) products, however, a positive control was not used, which could have introduced bias. The TMR stability of rumen-protected choline (RPC) products has not yet been explored. The objectives of this experiment were to 1) determine the TMR stability of 6 RPL products using a modified technique that used an unprotected Lys treatment as a positive control and 2) use the same modified technique to determine the recovery of unprotected choline chloride (CC) and the stability of 5 RPC products when mixed in a TMR. Triplicate plastic bags containing no RPC or RPL (negative control); unprotected CC or unprotected Lys-HCl (positive control; 1 g of CC or 1 g of Lys); or RPC or RPL (1 g of CC or 1 g of Lys) mixed with 200 g of TMR (38% DM and 36% DM for RPC and RPL trials, respectively) were incubated, unsealed at room temperature (22°C) for 0, 6, 12 and 24 h. At the end of each time point, bag contents were transferred to strainer bags and soaked in 1 L of distilled water for 1 min to solubilize any free CC or Lys released from the products. A sample of solution was filtered (0.45 μm) and stored at −20°C until analysis for free CC or Lys content using a YSI biochemical analyzer or cIEC-HPLC, respectively. Recovery of the unprotected nutrients was influenced by TMR incubation time and were not complete (78%, 61%, 58% and 51% at 0, 6, 12 and 24 h of TMR exposure, respectively for CC and 85%, 54%, 50% and 44% at 0, 6, 12 and 24 h, respectively for Lys). Thus, a correction factor was applied to samples containing the RP products to account for unrecovered CC or Lys released from the products. Total CC or Lys release was then calculated for each product. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS and means within an incubation time were separated using the Tukey adjustment. Differences in stability were observed across RPC and RPL products at all TMR incubation times, with ranges in stability from 99.2% ± 0.9 to −3.8 ± 1.4% for RPC and 99.9% ± 0.1 to 12.8 ± 1.9% for RPL. These findings highlight significant differences in TMR stability among RPC and RPL products and underscores the importance of correcting stability results for incomplete recovery of unprotected CC and Lys.
Source: JDS Communications
Institutions: Balchem Corporation (United States), Virginia Tech
Language: English
Subfield: Animal Science and Zoology
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,310
OpenAlex ID: W7203596431