Table 1 Effects of supplementation of 200 mM choline chloride and choline bicarbonate on incubation liquid traits (main experiment).

pH

6.95^a

6.31^b

7.42^c

0.070

 < 0.001

NH₃ (mmol/L)

20^a

596^b

580^b

68.9

 < 0.001

Total VFA (mmol/L)

68.0^a

96.4^b

84.6^ab

5.32

0.044

Molar proportions (% of VFA)

Acetate

43.8^a

59.5^b

67.6^b

5.17

 < 0.001

Propionate

20.3^a

8.0^b

4.9^c

0.96

 < 0.001

n-Butyrate

22.1

27.7

23.8

1.69

0.083

Iso-Butyrate

0.94

1.13

0.77

0.318

0.255

n-Valerate

7.73^a

3.40^a

2.70^b

0.828

0.004

iso-Valerate

5.13^a

0.39^b

0.26^b

0.215

 < 0.001

Bacteria (× 10⁸/mL)

4.88

5.30

5.93

0.654

0.331

Protozoa (× 10⁴/mL)

1.27

1.02

1.00

0.149

0.270

Nutrient disappearance (g/g supply)

Organic matter

0.738^a

0.662^b

0.645^b

0.0117

 < 0.001

Neutral detergent fibre

0.533^a

0.407^b

0.387^b

0.0097

 < 0.001

N turnover (mg/day)

N supply (basal diet + choline)

423

1551

1551

‒

‒

N recovered in NH₃

115^a

3363^b

3272^b

388.9

 < 0.001