Effectiveness of acetic acid and formaldehyde for preventing protein degradation in the rumen.

Six rumen cannulated steers were in a replicated 3 X 3 Latin square arrangement to investigate degradability in the rumen of dry matter and crude protein from soybean meal that was untreated or treated with either 8% acetic acid or .3% formaldehyde. Polyester bags containing the soybean meals were suspended in the rumen of each steer and removed after 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 24 h to calculate degradation rates. Soybean meals remaining in the polyester bags after 12 h of rumen exposure were collected and referred to as residues. Postruminal digestion was stimulated by incubating 200 mg of soybean meal residues with pepsin and pancreatin. Formaldehyde treatment of soybean meal was more effective than acetic acid treatment in preventing ruminal degradation of dry matter and crude protein under these experimental conditions. However, soybean meal treated with acetic acid and remaining in polyester bags after 12 h of ruminal exposure released a larger quantity of alpha-amino nitrogen during in vitro incubation with pepsin and pancreatin than did residue of soybean meal treated with formaldehyde. Acetic acid may prove to be an effective agent for increasing the supply of absorbable dietary amino acids.