Effect of application of fibrolytic enzyme products at different levels on in vitro ruminal fermentation of low quality feeds

Abstract

Plant cell walls typically consist of about 35-50% cellulose, 20-35% hemicelluloses, and 10-25% lignin in the dry mass (Sticklen, 2008). Considering these abundant fibre sources, significant improvement in the cell wall digestibility has been achieved over past decades through various treatment options. Cellulase and xylanase are two major ruminant diet enzyme groups that are able to respectively break down the cellulose and xylans found in the plant cell wall components (Beauchemin et al., 2003), and brought significant effects in improving digestibility. However, their optimal level of inclusion is dependent on the diet under consideration, suggesting the need to determine optimum rate of inclusion of a given enzyme preparation for the various feeds (Yang et al., 1999). This study evaluates the effects of fibrolytic cellulase and xylanase enzymes on in vitro digestibility, gas production and volatile fatty acid production from Eragrostsis curvula and maize stover.