1 Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21545, Egypt
2Centre for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, University of Sao Paulo, Piracicaba, 13400-970, Brazil
3Agricultural Research Centre, Animal Production Research Institute, Cairo, 23713, Egypt
Centre for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, University of Sao Paulo, Piracicaba, 13400-970, Brazil
*Corresponding author: abdalla@cena.usp.br
#This paper is part of the special issue entitled: Exogenous Enzymes in Animal Nutrition - Benefits and Limitations, Guest Edited by A.Z.M. Salem and N. Odongo, and Editor for Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, A.K. Pattanaik.
Two fibrolytic enzyme products (cellulase and xylanase) were applied at 7.5 or 0.46 enzymatic units/500 mg DM substrate, respectively to common Brazilian forage pasture grass species: Aruana (Panicum maximum), Napier (Pennisetum purpureum), Brachiaria (Brachiaria decumbens), Buffel (Pennisetum ciliare), Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) and sugarcane bagasse. The forages were then incubated in an in vitro semi-automatic gas production (GP) system for 24 and 48 h. Cellulase addition enhanced (P<0.05) GP, the amount of degraded neutral detergent fiber (DNDF), and propionate and butyrate production during 24 h compared with no addition, whereas xylanase product had only minor effects on nutrient degradation. None of the enzymatic treatments affected methane (CH4) at the two incubation times. Aruana and Napier had the highest hemicellulose and protein contents, caused the lowest CH4 production (P<0.01) and increased (P<0.05) GP, DNDF and CH4 at 24 h when treated with cellulase product compared with the other grasses. The present results highlighted the importance of matching the enzyme product to forage substrate properties to achieve maximal benefit from exogenous enzyme application in ruminant nutrition.
Endoglucanase, Methane, Pasture quality, Sustainability, Xylanase
