Bovine faeces as a source of micro‐organisms for the in vitro digestibility assay of forages

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether bovine faeces could replace rumen liquor collected from fistulated sheep in the determination of organic matter digestibility (OMD) of forages in vitro. The first experiment compared two inocula that had been prepared by mixing 83 and 333 g of cattle faeces with 1 litre of artificial saliva according to the first stage of the in vitro technique of Tilley and Terry (Journal of the British Grassland Society,18, 104–111, 1963). Inocula made from 333 g of faeces gave higher values of OMD than that prepared from 83 g of faeces and was used in subsequent studies. When a 48‐h acid pepsin digestion, the second stage of the Tilley and Terry (1963) technique, was included, the OMD values and the ease of filtering of undigested residues were increased. The second experiment compared digestibility determined with inocula produced from faeces with that produced from rumen liquor. The OMD of a ryegrass hay determined with an inoculum prepared from faeces was 0·468 compared with 0·528 when using an inoculum prepared from rumen liquor. The third experiment investigated the accuracy of estimating the OMD of eight contrasting forages determined using rumen liquor from three sheep (y) and faeces from two cows (x). All regressions were significant (P < 0·001) and had residual standard deviations (r.s.d.) of between ±0·019 and ±0·022. The final study compared faeces collected from cattle fed with either hay or concentrates. The OMD of forage was higher from the hay‐fed animals, but the r.s.d. values of the regressions were similar. It was concluded that cattle faeces shows potential as an alternative to rumen liquor collected from rumen‐fistulated sheep for use in the in vitro digestibility assay of forages.

Solid-State Fermentation of Ammoniated Corn Straw to Animal Feed by Pleurotus ostreatus Pl-5

“…The in vitro digestibility (IVD) of the CS, ACS, EP substrate, and CP substrate was estimated according to Akhter et al (1999) with slight modifications and using twostage digestion, which included treatment with fecal inoculum prepared in artificial saliva, and then with acidified pepsin (Sharma and Arora 2010a,b). The weight loss in dry matter during the processing was expressed as IVD.…”

Comparative ligninolytic potential of <i>Phlebia</i> species and their role in improvement of <i>in vitro</i> digestibility of wheat straw

“…In vitro digestibility of uninoculated and fungal treated WS was estimated according to Akhter et al (1999), with slight modifi cations. Faecal inoculum was prepared by mixing fresh faecal matter of buffalo (100 g/l) in pre-warmed (39ºC) artifi cial saliva (NaHCO 3 9.80 g, Na 2 HPO 4 .7H 2 O 7.00 g, KCl 0.57 g, NaCl 0.47 g, MgSO 4 .7H 2 O 0.12 g and 1 ml CaCl 2 (4%, w/v) in 1000 ml of distilled water) and fi ltered through four-layered muslin cloth.…”

“…On the other hand, the method involving the use of enzymes, like cellulase, is relatively expensive (Nousiainen et al, 2003). Use of faecal inoculum for determining the digestibility is comparatively cheaper and easier method for practical use in a microbiological laboratory (Shaer et al, 1987;Akhter et al, 1999).…”

Antioxidant properties and nutritional value of wheat straw bioprocessed by Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Daedalea flavida

“…In vitro digestibility of uninoculated and fungal treated WS was estimated according to Akhter et al (1999) as described earlier (Sharma and Arora, 2010) by using fecal inoculum. The weight loss in dry matter during the processing has been expressed as in vitro digestibility.…”