In Vitro Digestibility and Rumen Fermentation Parameters of Feeds as Affected by Supplementary Amla Powder and Fenugreek Seeds

The present study was designed to ascertain the effect of amla (Phyllanthus emblica L.) fruit powder (AFP) and fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) seeds (FS) supplementation on ruminal feed degradability, methane and microbial biomass production (MBP) under in vitro conditions. Concentrate mixture and wheat straw in 60: 40 ratio (on DM basis) was taken as substrate for the experiment. AFP, FS or AFP + FS mixture (1: 1 ratio) was added at 1, 2 and 3% of the substrate, respectively. Digestibility of DM and OM improved (P<0.01) from 57.85±0.62 to 64.42±0.74% and from 65.68±1.24 to 73.90±1.63%, respectively on AFP supplementation. The same trend was also observed for FS and AFP-FS mixture supplementation to the substrate. Total gas (ml/g DM) production after 24 h incubation varied from 118.49±3.00 to 129.14±2.50 (AFP), 113.26±4.87 to 125.86±2.66 (FS) and from 128.05±0.92 to 139.89±2.84 (AFP-FS mixture) in comparison to the control (111.95±1.13). The values of MBP was significantly (P<0.05) higher in AFP and FS supplemented substrates. Therefore, it was concluded that supplementation of AFP, FS and AFP + FS improved DM and OM digestibility microbial biomass production while reducing methane production in vitro.