Abstract
The effects were assessed of two energy sources in concentrate (ground grain corn vs. citrus pulp) and two nitrogen sources (soybean meal vs. urea) on rumen metabolism in four buffaloes and four zebu cattle (Nellore) with rumen cannula and fed in a 4 × 4 Latin square design with feeds containing 60% sugar cane. Energy supplements had no effect on the rumen ammonia concentration in cattle, but ground grain corn promoted higher ammonia level than citrus pulp in buffalo. Urea produced higher ammonia level than soybean meal in both animal species. On average, the buffaloes maintained a lower rumen ammonia concentration (11.7 mg/dL) than the cattle (14.5 mg/dL). Buffaloes had lower production of acetic acid than cattle (58.7 vs. 61.6 mol/100 mol) and higher of propionic acid (27.4 vs. 23.6 mol/100 mol). There was no difference in the butyric acid production between the buffaloes (13.6 mol/100 mol) and cattle (14.8 mol/100 mol) and neither in the total volatile fatty acids concentration (82.5 vs. 83.6 mM, respectively). The energy or nitrogen sources had no effect on rumen protozoa count in either animal species. The zebu cattle had higher rumen protozoa population (8.8 × 10(5)/mL) than the buffaloes (6.1 × 10(5)/mL). The rumen protozoa population differed between the animal species, except for Dasytricha and Charonina. The buffaloes had a lower Entodinium population than the cattle (61.0 vs 84.9%, respectively) and a greater percentage of species belonging to the Diplodiniinae subfamily than the cattle (28.6 vs. 1.4%, respectively). In cattle, ground corn is a better energy source than citrus pulp for use by Entodinium and Diplodiniinae. In the buffaloes, the Entodinium are favored by urea and Diplodiniinae species by soybean meal.
Highlights
Comparison of the rumen metabolism of buffalo and cattle is of scientific interest in order to understand the rumen microbial activities of these ruminant species under the same feeding conditions
The average dry matter intake was 13.3% higher in the buffaloes (113.9 g/kg0.75) than in cattle (100.5 g/kg0.75), and the smallest difference was observed with the use of citrus pulp with urea (6.5%) and the largest with the use of citrus pulp with soybean meal (20.5%)
Misra et al (2002) observed higher dry matter intake in buffaloes than in cattle (2.24% body weight vs. 1.95% body weight) fed sorghum stover supplemented with urea, but Pradhan et al (1997) observed that dry matter intake per unit metabolic body size was lower in buffalo than in cattle when fed wheat straw-groundnut-cake diet (9.0% crude protein) and sole berseem hay (11.6% crude protein)
Summary
Comparison of the rumen metabolism of buffalo and cattle is of scientific interest in order to understand the rumen microbial activities of these ruminant species under the same feeding conditions. Sugar cane is a tropical roughage, poor in crude protein but high in dry matter production, whereas corn grain is an energy source widely used in ruminant feeding. Citrus pulp is an industrial byproduct from citrus juice extraction, mainly from oranges and lemons. It is low in protein, but highly energetic without starch as carbohydrate and rich in pectin with around 25% dry matter (Arthington et al, 2002). Ariza et al (2001) observed with in vitro evaluation that neutral detergent-soluble fiber from citrus pulp can provide similar energy sources compared with starch from ground maize to support ruminal microbial growth
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