| Summary: | An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of adding different amounts of daidzein in diet on the fermentation parameters and bacterial community composition in the rumen of finishing cattle. A total of thirty head of 2-year-old finishing Xianan cattle were divided by weight into three groups and randomly allotted by group to one of three dietary treatments: (1) control; (2) 500 mg/kg daidzein and (3) 1000 mg/kg daidzein. All cattle were slaughtered to obtain rumen samples after a 80-d feeding trial. Results showed that adding 500 mg/kg daidzein reduced the operational taxonomic units (OTU) numbers, Shannon index and Chao1 index compared with control and 1000 mg/kg daidzein groups. Compared with control group at phylum level, Planctomycetos and Tenericutes were significantly more abundant in 500 mg/kg daidzein group, Verrucomicrobia and Fusobacteria were significantly rarer in 1000 mg/kg daidzein group. Compared with control group at genus level, Prevotella and Ruminococcus were significantly more abundant in 500 mg/kg daidzein group, Prevotella was significantly more abundant and Dethiosulfatibacter was significantly rarer in 1000 mg/kg daidzein group. Adding 1000 mg/kg daidzein significantly improved the total volatile fatty acids (TVFA) concentration and acetate content and significantly reduced the butyrate content compared with control group. Daidzein changed the fermentation parameters mainly by impacting the abundance of Prevotella and Ruminococcus. Current results suggest that adding 1000 mg/kg daidzein in diets can improve the rumen fermentation function for finishing Xianan cattle.
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