Comparison of three different rumen fluid as a source of inoculum to evaluate in vitro gas production and digestibility of elephant grass-concentrate mixture

Abstract

This study aimed at elucidating the use of three different rumen fluid (RF) of indigenous cattle breeds i.e. Bali, Madura and Crossbred Ongole immediately after slaughtered at abattoir to evaluate the nutritive value of elephant grass( EG) -concentrate mixture using a standard in vitro gas production (IVGP) technique. Approximately 500 mg feed dry matter/syringe was added with 50 ml RF-buffer solution and incubated in a 39 0C water bath for 48 hours where gas production was observed at time intervals. Following termination of incubation the content was transferred into tare glass crucible to measure rumen dry matter (RDMD) and organic matter (ROMD) digestibility. The results showed that there was no significant different (P>0.05) in gas production parameters. In contrast, RDMD and ROMD differed significantly (P<0.01) among cattle breeds. RF from OCB resulted in the highest IVGP, RDMD and ROMD as compared with other RF sources. In conclusion, the use of RF from abattoir for IVGP measurement can be warranted using the same source of RF. The highest values resulted from OCB suggests that the abundance and variation in rumen microbiota may exist among cattle breeds.