Stability and Effects of Protected Palmitic Acid on In Vitro Rumen Degradability and Fermentation in Lactating Goats

Few studies have evaluated the impact of a lipid-rich diet with palmitic acid (PA) in ruminal fermentation. The objective was to evaluate the in vitro bath culture of the protected PA on the ruminal fermentative variables. Four diets were used: (a) without protected PA (nPA) and (b) inclusion of protected PA at three levels: PA3 = 3%, PA6 = 6%, and PA9 = 9% dry matter (DM). The maximum gas production occurred without including protected PA and the low gas production given with the inclusion of protected PA9 (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.05). Meanwhile, the inclusion with 3 and 6% of protected PA showed a higher level of gas production kinetics than the other treatments (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.05). DM and organic matter degradation after 72 h of incubation linearly decreased (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.05) with a high level of protected PA. The level of C16:0 in the protected AP increased with the higher level of supplemented AP (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.05). The best efficiency in propionic acid, decrease in methane, and increase in biohydrogenation (79%) occurred with the inclusion of protected PA3 (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.05). In conclusion, supplements with protected PA at 3 and 6% increased PA availability. The results indicate good benefits of protected PA on fermentative variables, and these doses seem ideal for future research in lactating goats.