Chemical Composition, In Vitro Digestibility And Gas Production Characteristics Of Diets Containing Sweet Orange (Citrus Sinensis) Peel Meal

Abstract

The nutritive value of four diets containing different levels of sweet orange peel meal (SOPM), D1(0%SOPM), D2(12.5% SOPM), D3(25% SOPM) and D4(50% SOPM) were evaluated in terms of their chemical composition, in vitro gas production (IVGP), metabolizable energy (ME), organic matter digestibility (OMD), short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and in vitro gas production characteristics. Results showed that the in vitro gas production characteristics did not show any significant difference (p>0.05) among treatments. The values for potential gas production 'b' and the potentially degradable fractions 'a+b' for all the dietary treatments were similar (p>0.05), but absolute values of D4(50% SOPM) for 'b' and 'a+b' (30.88 and 38.59) respectively, were higher than those of D1, D2 and D3. The rate of fermention 'c' was also similar across the treatments. In vitro gas production volumes were significantly affected (p<0.05) among the treatments. Metaboliazable energy for D4(6.56MJ/kgDM) was significantly higher than D1(5.30 MJ/kgDM), D2(5.32 MJ/kgDM) and D3(5.39 MJ/kgDM). The OMD and SCFA followed the same trend.