Whole citrus fruits as an alternative to wheat grain or citrus pulp in sheep diet: Effect on the evolution of ruminal parameters

Short communication: Growth performance, nutrient digestibility and blood parameters of fattening lambs fed diet replacing corn with orange pulp

“…The lowest pH value was observed for lambs fed with the control diet. In agreement with our findings, Piquer et al (2009) reported that ruminal fluid pH increased linearly with the increasing replacement of wheat by OP and the highest ruminal fluid pH was observed in sheep fed diet with highest level of citrus pulp (39% of citrus fruits). They also reported that cereal-based diets produced ruminal pH values lower than citrus by-products diets.…”

“…A similar trend was also reported by Piquer et al (2009). In addition, the same was observed by Ben-Ghedalia et al (1989) who reported an increase of acetate and a decrease of propionate in the rumen fluid of Merino lambs when citrus pulp replaced barley grain in the diet.…”

“…The lower pH values of the cerealbased diets could be due to the lactate production from degradation of starch which is not produced with pectin rich diets (Leiva et al, 2000). The ruminal ammonia-N concentration decreased linearly (p<0.001) when the OP inclusion level increased which agreed with findings of Piquer et al (2009). The lowest ruminal ammonia-N concentration in lambs fed 100% OP compared to other experimental diets could be explained by the higher amount of NDF and pectins, because the ruminal bacteria fermenting fiber utilize mostly N from ammonia source Hristov & Ropp, 2003).…”

Effect of the inclusion of fresh lemon pulp in the diet of lactating ewes on the properties of milk and cheese

“…Supplementation of ruminant diets with citrus pulp may improve N utilisation (Kim et al, 2007;Piquer et al, 2009), reducing the ruminal NH 3 -N escape and, consequently, the milk urea level; several studies support this hypothesis, both in dairy cows (Santos et al, 2014) and in dairy ewes . Nevertheless, the present study found the opposite, since the milk from the FLP ewes had higher urea content than the milk from the control group.…”

“…Some authors (Volanis et al, 2006) who found a significant increase of milk fat percentage in ewes fed with ensiled citrus pulp attributed their results to the easily digestible fibre in citrus pulp silage, which creates a favourable condition in the rumen. The improved microbial activity, which leads to fibre degradation and subsequent higher production of acetic acid than propionic acid (Piquer et al, 2009), promotes milk fat synthesis in the mammary glands. Opposite results were seen by Piquer et al (2011), who studied the effect of adding whole citrus fruits (WCF) to the ration of dairy ewes on the composition of milk and analysed a large number of samples during the lactation period.…”