Soluble sugars in feeds are important for ruminant production; however, performing numerous sugar analyses within a short period is a laborious task. Here, we developed a phenol‐sulfuric acid (PSA) assay in a microplate format to quantify soluble sugars in ruminant feeds. This method is easy and quick and requires only a small quantity of harmful reagents. We found that assay measurements were not affected by the representative organic acids and sugar alcohol contained in feeds. The treatment of activated charcoal with ethanol extract prior to the PSA assay was effective in removing interfering compounds for a more accurate determination of soluble sugars in certain feeds. Furthermore, the inter‐day and intra‐day repeatability of the present method was acceptable. Hence, we conclude that the method developed in this study is suitable for routine analysis of soluble sugars content in ruminant feeds.

F eeding of high-quality feedstuffs is a determining factor for the success of livestock production. In many countries, the source of protein for animal feed is primarily based on plant protein. However, protein is considered as the most expensive component in feed in comparison to other nutrients. Thus, economically, the fulfilment of protein sources burdens production costs. The increasing prices of protein sources and the threat of food security have made livestock businesses seek alternative feeds. Insects just recently have been proposed as future food and feed resources for human and animals, respectively. The use of insects may simultaneously alleviate the problem of organic waste disposal since they easily grow on various organic substrates and convert the substrates into their body mass. Insects are typically characterized by their high protein contents with relatively balance amino acid composition (Jayanegara et al. 2017a). Maggot or black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) is considered as a potent animal feed because it has a fast production system, grow rapidly, and high protein content, i.e., approximately 40% (Liland et al., 2017). However, BSFL contains high fat of 29.65% (Fahmi et al. 2007). The use of insects as a feed ingredient is apparently a potential solution to solve, at least partially, the problem of feed shortage especially as a source of protein. The present study aimed to evaluate the nutritive value of total mixed ration silage containing intact and defatted black soldier fly larvae as ruminant feeds.

This research entitles “utilizing local microorganism with different dosages and duration of fermentation process towards digestibility and rumen activity of oil palm frond in vitro” has been done with purpose to know the effect of fermented feed processing technology towards digestion value and fermentability in vitro. The design used in the research was the factorial completely randomized design. The research results showed that the utilization of MOL with can significantly (P<0.05) improve digestibility and rumen activity in vitro where be indicated by increasing of DMD, OMD, and VFA total, N ammonia of rumen fluid in vitro, while duration fermentation had no significant effect (P>0.05) on OMD, and VFA total, N ammonia of rumen fluid in vitro. Application of MOL at the level 0,6% with duration of fermentation 7 days show the efficient treatment to increase quality of oil palm frond.

This research purpose to know the effect of fermented feed processing technology with different dosage and incubation time towards nutrient quality of oil palm frond. The design used in the research was the factorial completely randomized design with three replicates. The treatment consist of four dosage of MOL, namely 0; 0.2; 0.4; and 0.6% for the first factor, and the second factor is incubation of time 7; 14; 21 days. The research results showed that the utilization of MOL with can significantly (P<0.05) improve nutrient quality base on proximate analysis and also on neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) content. It is concluded that utilization of MOL can improve nutrient quality based on proximate analysis and also on neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) content. Utilization MOL 0.6% with incubation time 21 days show the best combination treatment to improve OPF for ruminant feed.