Effect of Terminalia chebuaa and Allium sativum on rumen fermentation, enzyme activities and microbial profile in buffaloes

Rumen fistulated adult Murrah buffaloes (4; 315.4±17.6 kg BW) were used in a 4 x 4 switch over design to study the effect of seed pulp of Terminalia chebula (Harad), bulb of Allium sativum (Garlic) and a mixture of the two as feed additives on rumen fermentation. Wheat straw and concentrate mixture in 1:1 ratio were fed to buffaloes (T₀), T₀ supplemented with T. chebula (T_H), A. sativum (T_G) or a mixture of the two in equal proportion (T_H+G) @ 1% of DM iitake. The DM intake was similar in all lhe animals. The pH, total volatile fatty acids and its fractions, lactic acid and total nitrogen concentrations in the rumen liquor were also not affected by any of the treatments. The animals of T_H group had lower (P<0.05) ammonia-N than T_G group. The activities of carboxymethylcellulase, xylanase, acetylesterase, á-amylase, avicelase, b-glucosidase and b-xylosidase did not differ in any of the fractions of rumen content of the four groups. Total and xylanolytic bacteria counts were higher (P<0.05) in T_H than other treatments. Cellulolytic bacteria counts increased (P<0.05) in both T_G and T_H as compared to other treatments. Fungal population was similar in all the groups. There was no change in the counts of small and large entodiniomorphs and holotrichs among the groups. The data indicated that the level of feed additives used did not affect rumen fermentation but increased the number of fibre degrading bacteria.