Addition of betel leaf meal (Piper betle L.) into ration for healing and preventing subclinical mastitis in dairy cow

Abstract

Mastitis is one of the most costly problems in dairy industry, particularly subclinical mastitis which is hard to be identified visually. The use of antibiotic to prevent and cure it had contribution on emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria and their transmission from livestock to human. An alternative antibacterial compound is needed to replace antibiotic use as feed additive such as betel leaf (Piper betle L.), but it must be investigated its effect on rumen fermentation condition before it is fed to mastitis cow. The purpose of this research was to elaborate the addition of betel leaf in dairy cow ration as an effort to prevail over subclinical mastitis and increase milk production. The research was consisted of two stages; 1) In vitro study of betel leaf meal (BLM) addition effect on antimastitis trough rumen fermentation test and viability of rumen microorganisms, 2) In vivo study of betel leaf meal addition into ration on lactating cow infected by subclinical mastitis. In vitro study consisted of three experiments i.e a) antibacterial activity test of BLM on Staphylococcus sp. growth, b) effect of BLM on rumen fermentation; and c) effect of BLM on viability of rumen microorganism. Five BLM level of 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8% in concentrate feed were used as treatment treatment and 4 rumen liquors were taken as replicates. Elephant grass was used as fiber source. Parameters observed were a) inhibition zone; b) number of rumen protozoa and bacteria; c) VFA production, NH3 concentration, dry matter (DM) and Organic Matter (OM) digestibility. In vivo study was conducted using 12 heads of lactating cows with lactation period 2 until 5. They were identified before using IPB-1 reagent. They were grouped into five treatments and treated for 21 days. The treatments were 0, 2% given daily, 4 % given daily, 2% given skip a day, and 4 % given skip a day. The result showed that the highest the level of BLM addition, the highest the inhibition of BLM on Staphylococcus sp. growth before fermentation. Meanwhile addition of BLM did not differ among treatments after fermentation. The increment of BLM level significantly decreased rumen protozoa (P<0.05), but did not affect number of bacteria. VFA production significantly increase (P<0.01), but did not affect NH3 concentration, DM, and OM digestibility. The increment of VFA was due to the increment of bacteria population thus fermentation process optimally occurred when given 2% of BLM. The results of in vitro study indicated that 2% and 4% can be further used for in vivo experiment. The result of in vivo study showed that 2% addition of BLM given daily significantly increased average milk production of fat-uncorrected (FUCM 4%) and 2% addition of BLM given skip a day significantly increased average milk production of fat-corrected (FCM 4%). Furthermore, addition of 2% BLM given daily significantly affect (P<0.05) milk composition, somatic cell count, but did not affect IgG. Addition of BLM more than 4% and given daily tended to lower milk quality. It is concluded that the best level of betel leaf in in vitro study is 2% of BLM in concentrate. Two percent of BLM daily can increase milk quality and milk production of fat-uncorrected meanwhile 2% addition given skip a day can increase milk production of fat-corrected (FCM 4%).