Effect of urea and molasses fermented cassava pulp on rumen fermentation, microbial population and microbial protein synthesis in beef cattle

Figures & data

Table 1. Chemical compositions of dietary feed used in the experiment.

Chemical composition, %	Concentrateee	C	CU	CM	CUM	RS
Dry matter	91.1	88.8	47.3	48.2	48.3	90.5
	% dry matter
Organic matter	88.3	95.0	98.2	97.1	97.2	78.8
Crude protein	16.0	3.3	15.7	5.1	9.1	2.7
Neutral detergent fibre	38.8	33.2	31.8	30.7	29.0	84.1
Acid detergent fibre	17.1	25.4	24.1	19.4	18.1	44.9

C: cassava pulp; CU: cassava pulp fermented with urea 4%; CM: cassava pulp fermented with molasses 4%; CUM: cassava pulp fermented with urea 4% and molasses 4%; RS: rice straw.

Table 2. Effect of urea/molasses fermented cassava pulp on voluntary feed intake and nutrient digestibility.

Items	Control	CU	CM	CUM	SEM	P-value
Total DM intake
kg	9.3	9.3	8.7	10.9	0.55	0.47
%BW	2.8	2.7	2.5	2.5	0.17	0.50
g kg^−1BW^0.75	115.8	112.6	105.8	109.9	7.20	0.49
Rice straw intake
kg	3.1	3.5	2.9	3.5	0.60	0.50
%BW	0.9	1.0	0.8	0.8	0.17	0.50
g kg^−1BW^0.75	37.9	42.8	35.7	35.7	7.39	0.50
Concentrate intake
kg	4.7	4.9	5.0	6.2	0.09	0.70
%BW	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	0.01	0.69
g kg^−1BW^0.75	58.8	59.5	59.6	63.1	0.28	0.67
Cassava pulp intake
kg	1.5	0.9	0.9	1.1	0.02	0.81
%BW	0.4	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.00	0.81
g kg^−1BW^0.75	19.1	10.3	10.5	11.2	0.07	0.81
Apparent digestibility, %
Dry matter	55.3^a	49.6^b	55.1^a	52.4^ab	1.10	0.03
Organic matter	60.1	55.6	61.7	59.2	1.67	0.17
Crude protein	43.4^b	44.8^b	51.1^a	55.0^a	1.19	0.01
Neutral detergent fibre	39.8^c	44.6 ^b	40.0^c	47.2^a	0.51	0.01
Acid detergent fibre	31.8^b	35.0^ab	34.6^ab	38.1^a	1.20	0.05

^abc Values on the same row with different superscripts differed (P < 0.05).

C: cassava pulp; CU: cassava pulp fermented with urea 4%; CM: cassava pulp fermented with molasses 4%; CUM: cassava pulp fermented with urea 4% and molasses 4%; RS: rice straw.

Table 3. Effect of urea/molasses fermented cassava pulp on blood urea nitrogen, rumen fermentation efficiency and CH₄ production.

Items	Control	CU	CM	CUM	SEM	P-value
Ruminal pH	6.7	6.8	6.8	6.8	0.04	0.50
Ruminal temperature, ^oC	38.2	38.0	38.0	38.1	0.39	0.98
NH3-N, mg/dL	8.6^a	13.0 ^c	10.9^b	16.0^d	0.36	0.001
Blood urea nitrogen, mg/dL	8.3	8.6	8.2	8.3	0.38	0.85
Hct,%	29.2	28.8	28.4	28.9	0.29	0.99
Total VFA, mmol/L	127.6	124.9	123.6	127.2	2.64	0.69
Acetic acid, mol/100 mol	68.0^a	64.5^ab	65.8^ab	62.1^b	1.19	0.05
Propionic acid, mol/100 mol	21.8^a	25.9^b	25.7^b	28.8^b	1.02	0.02
Butyric, mol/100 mol	10.2	9.6	8.5	9.1	0.76	0.51
CH4 production*, mol/100 mol TVFA	28.7^a	25.8^b	26.0^b	23.7^b	0.74	0.02

^abcd Values on the same row with different superscripts differed (P < 0.05).

*Calculated according to Moss et al. (2000) CH₄ production, 0.45 (acetate)−0.275 (propionate) + 0.4 (butyrate).

C: cassava pulp; CU: cassava pulp fermented with urea 4%; CM: cassava pulp fermented with molasses 4%; CUM: cassava pulp fermented with urea 4% and molasses 4%; RS: rice straw.

Table 4. Effect of urea/molasses fermented cassava pulp on microbial population.

Items	Control	CU	CM	CUM	SEM	P-value
Direct count technique
Protozoa,  × 10^5 cell/ml	4.9^a	4.8^ab	4.7^b	4.4^c	0.05	0.01
Fungal zoospore,  × 10^5cell/ml	5.4	5.4	5.5	5.4	0.05	0.52
Bacteria,  × 10^9cell/ml	5.1	5.2	5.2	5.2	0.04	0.31

^abc Values on the same row with different superscripts differed (P < 0.05).

C: cassava pulp; CU: cassava pulp fermented with urea 4%; CM: cassava pulp fermented with molasses 4%; CUM: cassava pulp fermented with urea 4% and molasses 4%; RS, rice straw.

Table 5. Effect of urea/molasses fermented cassava pulp on microbial protein synthesis.

Items	Control	CU	CM	CUM	SEM	P-value
Microbial protein synthesis
PD excreted, mmol/d	24.5	26.3	25.1	26.7	0.91	0.43
PD absroped, mmol/d	76.4^c	87.3^b	78.9^c	92.5^a	1.50	0.001
Microbial nitrogen supply, gN/d	55.5^c	63.5^b	57.3^c	68.5^a	0.97	0.001
EMPS, gN/kg OMDR	22.9^d	30.2^b	25.8^c	32.9^a	0.59	0.001

^abcd Values on the same row with different superscripts differed (P < 0.05).

C: cassava pulp; CU: cassava pulp fermented with urea 4%; CM, cassava pulp fermented with molasses 4%; CUM, cassava pulp fermented with urea 4% and molasses 4%; RS: rice straw; PD: purine derivative; EMPS, efficiency of microbial protein synthesis; OMDR: organic matter digestible in the rumen (ARC, 1984).