In Vitro Estimation of the Effect of Grinding on Rumen Fermentation of Fibrous Feeds

Abstract

The fermentation patterns of six fiber sources, soybean hulls (SH), sugarbeet pulp (BP), palm kernel cake (PK), oat hulls (OH), dehydrated alfalfa meal (DA), and barley straw (BS) were evaluated for this study on the effect of their presentation form (non-processed, NP and ground, GR). Substrates were tested in a conventional in vitro batch system, using rumen fluid obtained from ewes fed 0.5 alfalfa hay and 0.5 barley straw. All substrates rendered a higher gas production in GR form (<i>p</i> < 0.05) except for BS but ranked similarly irrespective of the presentation form. Among the substrates, when incubated NP, the highest volume of gas was recorded with BP from 8 h onwards (<i>p</i> < 0.05), whereas OH and BS resulted in the lowest gas volume (<i>p</i> < 0.05). During the first half of the incubation period, methane production was higher in GR than NP (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Among substrates, despite NP or GR, methane production with BP was the highest (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Similarly, the presentation form did not qualitatively affect fermentation, as no differences were observed in volatile fatty acids proportions. The effect of particle size of fibrous substrates does not have a major impact on the rate and extent of the rumen microbial fermentation.