Table 3. DM and NDF digestibility, NH₃-N concentration, and pH in the cultures over time

	Incubation times (h)			SEM	Contrast
	24	48	72		Linear	Quadratic
DM digestibility (%)
Ec	67.5a	69.0b	80.4b	2.09	< 0.001	0.004
AAFB	60.7b	67.9b	71.5c	1.63	< 0.001	NS
Ec + AAFB	66.1a	72.6a	85.5a	2.88	< 0.001	0.011
NDF digestibility (%)
Ec	36.5	39.1	39.9	1.19	NS	NS
AAFB	35.9	43.5	44.5	1.88	NS	NS
Ec + AAFB	33.6	43.7	44.2	1.90	0.003	NS
NH3-N (mg/dL)
Ec	7.1b	13.6c	16.5c	1.39	< 0.001	0.010
AAFB	13.8a	18.7b	29.6a	2.35	< 0.001	< 0.001
Ec + AAFB	14.8a	21.5a	26.2b	1.66	< 0.001	0.033
pH
Ec	6.41b	6.17b	6.12	0.07	NS	NS
AAFB	6.81a	6.44a	6.50	0.06	0.013	0.034
Ec + AAFB	6.47b	6.27ab	6.32	0.03	0.003	0.003

Means within a row with different superscripts differ (p < 0.05).
DM, dry matter; NDF, neutral detergent fiber; Ec, Entodinium caudatum alone; AAFB, amino acid-fermenting bacterial consortium alone; NS, not significant (p > 0.05); Ec + AAFB, co-culture of Ec and AAFB.