Abstract
Digestibility of wheat straw is limited mainly by lignin in ruminants, and fungal treatment is known to improve its nutritional worth. In the present study, wheat straw, subjected to solid state fermentation with ligninolytic white-rot basidiomycetes fungus Crinipellis sp. RCK-SC for 10 days, was studied with untreated wheat straw for in vitro nutritional parameters like chemical composition, digestibility, gas production and ruminal parameters, followed by in vivo feeding trial in Sahiwal calves. The fungal treatment after 10 days led to significant (P<0.05) decrease in cell wall constituents viz. neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), hemicellulose, lignin and cellulose to the extent of 104.0, 121.9, 64.2, 29.97 and 73.9g/kgDM, respectively. Crude protein (CP) and ash contents were increased (P<0.05) by 502.7 and 526.1g/kgDM, respectively, in fungal treated wheat straw (FT-WS) than untreated straw (UT-WS). Further, in vitro gas production (GP24h), in vitro true dry matter digestibility and organic matter digestibility for 48h, calculated metabolizable energy (ME) content, microbial biomass production and short chain fatty acids production were significantly (P<0.05) higher in FT-WS, while in vitro methane production (L) per kg of digestible dry matter was lower (P<0.05) in FT-WS. Ammonia nitrogen and total volatile fatty acids values were also significantly (P<0.05) higher in FT-WS. For in vivo feeding trial, ten healthy male Sahiwal calves (8–12 months) were divided into two groups based on comparable body weights following randomized block design. Control group (T1) was fed with ad libitum chopped wheat straw, whereas in treatment (T2), it was substituted with ad libitum chopped fungal treated wheat straw. Animals in both the groups were supplemented with groundnut cake to meet nitrogen requirement and green berseem (Trifolium alexandrium) forage to fulfill their vitamin A requirements. Digestibility of nutrients for DM, OM, CP, ether extract, NDF, ADF, hemicellulose, cellulose and total carbohydrates were significantly (P<0.05) higher in T2 compared to T1 group. Moreover, daily DM, digestible crude protein (P<0.01) and ME intakes were also higher (P<0.05) in T2 with higher (P<0.05) nitrogen retention (P<0.05), higher average daily gain in body weight and feed conversion ratio. This study suggested that the bioconversion of wheat straw using Crinipellis sp. RCK-SC holds potential in upgrading its nutritional value for feeding growing calves.
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