Impact of effective microbes (em) bokashi supplementation on nutrients digestibility, rumen fermentation and gas volume production in diets of sheep

Abstract

The present study was conducted to determine the appropriate type of by-products {sugar beet pulp (SBP), grape seeds (GS), olive cake (OC), citrus pulp (CtP), and jojoba meal (JM)} fermented with activated effective microorganisms (EM-Bokashi) to be integrated into the diet of sheep to obtain the best nutrient digestibility and rumen characteristic of Barki sheep. An in vitro experiment was carried out on five fistulated females for rumen fermentation activity, while 15 males were used for digestibility trials. Treatment with EM caused less cell wall content. GS and CtP had higher feed intake (FI) and digestibility coefficients; the lower was found for JM as well less FI. SBP and JM had a higher pH and NH3 concentration, while they were less for GS and CtP. Those had higher total volatile fatty acids (TVFA's) concentration, percentage of acetate, and acetic to propionic (A/P) ratio. JM had less acetate, A/P and higher propionate and butyrate. Higher gas volume after 24h fermentation was noticed for GS and CtP, they were higher kinetic parameters as well, but they were less methane production and more ME (MJ/kg DM), OMD (%) and microbial protein syntheses. Therefore, in conclusion, feeding Bokashi of GS or CtP to sheep can improve productivity, while using Bokashi of JM should be combined with other feeds.