Table 3 Total volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentrations and individual VFA profiles after 48 h of in vitro ruminal fermentation of purple prairie clover (PPC; Dalea purpurea Vent.) and cool-season native grasses that were harvested when PPC reached the vegetative (VEG), full flower (FL) and seedpod (SP) stages and combined at different ratios

32.4^c

35.9^b

33.5^bc

33.7^bc

40.0^a

1.44

< 0.001

0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.020

28.1

24.4

26.0

26.5

27.5

0.306

0.215

26.7^a

26.2^a

23.9^b

23.1^bc

21.9^c

< 0.001

0.723

59.4^c

60.6^c

62.4^b

63.0^b

65.4^a

0.63

0.004

< 0.001

0.001

< 0.001

0.569

58.9^e

61.3^d

65.2^c

67.3^b

69.8^a

< 0.001

0.457

59.2^c

60.7^c

64.7^b

65.1^b

67.7^a

< 0.001

0.601

32.0^a

29.3^b

28.0^bc

26.9^c

24.2^d

0.43

0.122

< 0.001

0.008

< 0.001

0.954

33.5^a

30.1^b

26.7^c

25.2^d

23.3^e

< 0.001

0.001

32.6^a

30.5^b

27.8^c

26.4^d

24.3^e

< 0.001

0.258

7.6^b

8.4^ab

8.3^ab

8.4^ab

8.5^a

0.57

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.096

0.261

7.4^ab

7.8^a

6.9^b

5.9^c

5.3^c

< 0.001

0.073

7.8^a

7.9^a

6.8^b

7.3^ab

6.5^b

0.006

0.872

1.1^c

1.6^ab

1.3^bc

1.7^ab

1.9^a

0.14

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.284

0.006

0.907

0.3^c

0.9^b

1.2^b

1.5^a

1.6^a

< 0.001

0.015

0.4^c

0.9^b

0.9^b

1.3^a

1.5^a

< 0.001

0.603

1.87^d

2.08^c

2.24^bc

2.36^b

2.72^a

0.057

0.102

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.236

1.76^e

2.04^d

2.44^c

2.70^b

3.00^a

< 0.001

0.567

1.82^e

1.99^d

2.33^c

2.47^b

2.81^a

< 0.001

0.397