Acta Veterinaria Eurasia
Original Article

The Effect of Safflower on the In Vitro Digestion Parameters and Methane Production in Horse and Ruminant

1.

Kirsehir Directorate of Provincial Food Agriculture and Livestock, Kirsehir, Turkey

2.

The Department of Animal Nutrition and Nutritional Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey

Acta Vet Eurasia 2018; 44: 73-84
DOI: 10.26650/actavet.2018.409784
Read: 1361 Downloads: 670 Published: 03 May 2018

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of using 5%, 10%, and 20% of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L. Dinçer; without thorns) grain, and its hay and straw, on the in vitro fermentation parameters in the diets of horses and ruminants. The addition of up to 5% of crushed safflower grain to a horse’s diet had no negative effect on the in vitro total gas production, true dry matter digestion (T-DMD), metabolic energy (ME), gas yield at 24 h (GY24), partial factor (PF24), microbial crude protein production (MCP) and short chain fatty acid composition (SCFA) of digestion fluid; however, increasing the grain content negatively affected certain parameters (p<0.05). The hay and straw at 5%–20% ratio in a horse’s diet had a positive effect on in vitro gas production, ME, SCFA, and GY24. We observed that 5% safflower grain in ruminants’ diets did not negatively affect the in vitro cumulative gas production up to 96 h, T-DMD, true organic matter digestion (T-OMD), ME, net energy lactation (NEL), GY24, PF24, and MCP values and SCFA compositions; but 10% and 20% levels negatively affected the in vitro gas production, ME, NEL, and SCFA values (p<0.05). The use of up to 20% hay and straw had no negative effect on the parameters (p>0.05). Using safflower grain, hay and straw in horse and ruminants’ diets did not affect the in vitro methane production (p>0.05). Consequently, using up to 5% safflower grain, and 20% hay and straw has the potential as a feed source in the diets of horses and ruminants.

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