To explore the mechanism underlying the effect of PPO on protein protection in fresh forage feeds, proteomic components of feed down-boli produced from wild-type red clover and
a low PPO mutant,
at point of ingestion and after 4h in vitro incubation with rumen inoculum were analysed. Significant differences in proteomic profiles between wild-type and mutant red clover were determined after 4h incubation, with over 50% less spots in mutant than wild-type proteomes, indicating decreased proteolysis in the latter.