Factors affecting in vitro gas production from fermentation of forages as determined by pressure transducer technique
1998
Zinash Sileshi(Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization, Addis Abeba (Ethiopia)) | Emyr Owen(The University of reading, Early Gate (UK). Department of Agriculture) | M. K. Theodorou(Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Plas Gogerddan (UK)) | M.S. Dhanoa(Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Plas Gogerddan (UK)) | Seyoum Bediye(Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization, Addis Abeba (Ethiopia))
A pressure transducer connected to a digital read-out meter was used to determine the fermentation kinetics of temperature and tropical forages during in vitro digestion in batch cultures inoculated with rumen micro-organisms. The forages included straws and hays harvested as part of a forage evaluation program at different states of growth from research centers in Ethiopia. Factors influencing the fermentation kinetics of these forages were investigated using parallel curve analysis. The factors included: (1) atmospheric pressure, (2) anaerobic status and composition of the culture medium, (3) the amount of microbial inoculum used, (4) the interval between successive pressure transducer readings, (5) the extent to which culture medium butter contributed to the accumulating gas pool and (6) variability of the rumen microbial inoculum. Reproducibility and repeatability of gas accumulation measurements and the optimal construction of gas accumulation profiles were also investigated. All factors had significant (p0.05) influence on gas accumulation profiles emphasizing the need for standardized experimental conditions and procedures in evaluation of in vitro fermentation kinetics of ruminant feedstuffs. As result of these experiments suggestions were made on routine procedure for in vitro determination of forage fermentation kinetics using the pressure transducer technique.
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