EFFECTS OF FRUCTO-OLIGOSACCHARIDES ON MILK-YIELD AND MILK-COMPONENTS OF DAIRY COWS

Fructo-oligosaccharides are found in many plants, such as onion, burdock and wheat. They are not well hydrolyzed by digestive enzymes in animals, but are peculiarly assimilated by Bifidobacterium and some useful bacteria. In our previous experiment (Kobayashi et al., 1987) it was suggested that they were effective in decreasing energy loss in the metabolism of dairy calves. In the present study, the effects of fructo-oligosaccharides on body weight, milk-yield and milk-components (fat, protein and solids-not-fat) were investigated in dairy cows. Lactating cows were fed a standard diet containing fructoligo saccharides at 18.70g, 9.35g and 0.0g (control) per 100kg body weight, day for three weeks. Neither treatments significantly affected any of the parameters examined. The fructo-oligosaccharides were assumed to be hydrolyzed by rumen microorganisms and hardly to affect the bacterium florae in the intestines of the lactating cows.