Abstract
The ruminal digestion performed by ruminants is one of the essential and most important processes for the use of dietary nutrients. However, the use of mathematical models applied to digestion kinetics has been widely applied to provide prediction of animal performance, maximize the use of nutrients and reduce nutritional losses due to excreta and a reduction in the cost of animal production. In this context, it aimed to conduct a literature review on the use of mathematical models and to analyze comparisons of different models to predict ruminal digestion. The in vitro gas production technique provides direct measurement of the ruminal digestion rate associated with gas production and the respective gravimetric measurement of the food or diet under test. Nonlinear models are chosen to evaluate ruminal digestion due to a better interpretation of biological parameters, they produce exponential and sigmoidal growth equations. However, the most suitable model for evaluation depends on the type of food or diet. The two-compartment logistical model presents a better adjustment of the gas production curve, mainly for foods with a high proportion of fiber. Among this, single-compartment models can be well applied to evaluate the degradation kinetics of foods with low fibrous carbohydrate content. Therefore, the choice of the most appropriate model is up to the researcher to assess which model best suits the chemical-chemical composition of the food or diet.
Highlights
The dietary systems of ruminants need information about the food, mainly about their fractions of carbohydrates and proteins, as well as their digestion rates in order to be able to more accurately predict the performance of animals and maximize the efficiency of nutrient use (MOREIRA et al, 2010).the kinetic parameters of degradation are important because in addition to describing digestion, they characterize the intrinsic properties of foods that limit the availability of nutrients for ruminants (Mertens, 2005)
The in vitro gas production technique provides direct measurement of the ruminal digestion rate associated with gas production and the respective gravimetric measurement of the food or diet under test
The mathematical models applied to the degradation kinetics can provide strong estimates of the nutritional values of the food, microbial population, physiological state of the animal and information related to the factors that affect the digestive processes (MERTENS, 1993)
Summary
Mathematical modeling applied to ruminal digestion and gas production in vitro Corresponding author J.
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