Evaluation of chromium oxide and titanium dioxide as inert markers for calculating apparent digestibility in sheep

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to evaluate two markers: chromium oxide (Cr2O3) and titanium dioxide (TiO2). We evaluate the interaction between Cr2O3 and TiO2, and the techniques used to determine it, using atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) and photometry simple (PS). We used six growing sheep distributed in a replicated Latin square 3 × 3 design, with adjustment for the residual error effect. The TiO2 and Cr2O3–TiO2 produced values similar to those obtained by total faecal collection (TFC) or the use of Cr2O3 alone, determined by AAS and PS. Digestibility of the marker/TFC ratio was similar (p > .05) between markers and technique. The use of TiO2 alone or in combination with Cr2O3 seems to be a suitable alternative to TFC and Cr2O3 to calculate apparent digestibility of the total digestive tract determined in sheep by PS and AAS.