Potential of Moringa oleifera leaves in modulating in vitro methanogenesis and fermentation of wheat straw in buffalo

Abstract

This study examined the potential of Moringa oleifera leaves as supplement to wheat straw and assessed the associative effects on in vitro rumen fermentation characteristics in terms of nutritional and environmental impacts. Moringa oleifera leaves (ML) and wheat straw (WS) were incubated alone and in mixtures (ML:WS; 5:95, 10:90 and 20:80) for 24 h at 39°C in 100 ml calibrated glass syringes containing buffered rumen fluid. For each substrate, rumen fermentation parameters and methanogenesis were studied. Moringa leaves were found to be a rich source of crude protein and low fibre with higher degradability, gas production, short chain fatty acids production and lower methane emission as compared to wheat straw. The presence of ML in the mixtures exerted positive associative effect on fermentation which resulted in increase in gas production (up to + 2.30%), true degradability of dry matter (up to +11.47%), true degradability of organic matter (up to +13.39%) and microbial biomass production (up to +35.60%) with the concomitant reduction in methanogenesis (up to –18.11%) when compared with the calculated value of the mixture. The associative effect of WS-ML mixtures resulted in increased volatile fatty acid production (up to +5.48%). This study showed the associative effects of Moringa leaves in improving the fermentation of wheat straw and reducing methane emission and advocates the potentiality of Moringa oleifera leaves as a supplement to wheat straw for improving animal performance.