Impact of dietary supplementation with pogostemon cablin essential oil on the rumen microbial community and rumen health in heat-stressed beef cattle

Many positive outcomes induced by plant essential oil are increasingly recognized as including modulation of rumen health in heat-stressed ruminants. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effects of pogostemon cablin essential oil (PEO) on fermentation parameters, digestive enzymes activity, rumen microbial community and rumen development in heat-stressed beef cattle. Eighteen male Jingjiang cattle were randomly assigned to two groups and fed a diet containing PEO at 0 mg/kg (Control) and 50 mg/kg in the feed concentrate (n = 9 per group).