Effects of allicin addition on growth performance, rumen microbiome, and ruminal epithelial proteome of high-grain-fed goats

It is well known that allicin has anti-bacterial, anti-oxidation, and anti-inflammatory biological functions. However, there is little information on whether allicin has beneficial effects on ruminants fed a high-grain (HG) diet. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of allicin addition on growth performance, ruminal microbes in different rumen ecological niches (REN), and the rumen epithelial (RE) proteome in fattening goats fed a HG diet. Twenty-four Anhui white goats were randomly allocated to three dietary treatments: control diet (CON, n = 8), high-grain diet (HG, n = 8), and high-grain diet + allicin (HGA, n = 8). After 56 days, blood, rumen fluid (RL), rumen solid (RS), and RE tissue were sampled for further analysis. Compared with the HG diet, the addition of allicin decreased (P < 0.05) the DMI, with no effects (P > 0.05) on daily weight gain and rumen fermentation parameters. The malondialdehyde concentrations were lower (P