Effect of Grass Substitution using Sugarcane Tops Treated with Cytophaga sp on In Vitro Rumen Fermentation
Agustin Herliatika1, a), Wisri Puastuti1, b), Dwi Yulistiani1, c), Susan IW Rakhmani1, d), Winwin Widaringsih1, e), Maplani1, f)

1 Research Center for Animal Husbandry, Research Organization for Agriculture and Food, National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia. Cibinong Sciences Center, Bogor, Indonesia, 16915 2Additional affiliations should

Abstract

Processed sugarcane tops could be used as ruminant feed to substitute grass. This study aims to evaluate the in vitro rumen fermentability of sugarcane top (SCT) fermented with Cytophaga sp (SCTC) in the ration. The fermentation process of the Sugarcane top was conducted for five days. An in vitro test was carried out to measure sugarcane top fermentability in complete rations as a grass substitute. The rations were formulated using forage and concentrate at a ratio of 1:1. Elephant Grass as basal forage was substituted using fermented sugarcane top (SCTC) at 0, 20, 40, and 50% DM of forage. Substitution of 50% unprocessed SCT in the ratio was also evaluated as control (+). This experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with five treatments and five replications. Results showed that the substitution of SCTC affected the diet NH3 levels, dry matter digestibility, bacteria, and protozoa population (P<0.05), but it did not affect total VFA (P>0.05). The dry matter digestibility of SCT or SCTC rations has a higher trend compared to the control (61.54-66.19% vs 58.39%). Methane gas production of all treatments was similar (44.4-48.9 ml/g DM digested). This study concluded that SCT and SCTC could be used as grass substitutes in the ration without interfering with the rumen fermentation.

Keywords: sugarcane tops, Cytophaga sp, fermentation, rumen

Topic: Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology