THE EFFECT OF CONCENTRATE CONTAINING PROBIOTICS ON FERMENTATION CHARACTERISTICS, METHANOGENESIS AND In vitro NUTRIENT DIGESTILITY

The aim of the experiment was to evaluate the effect of probiotic addition in concentrate on fermentation characteristics, methane (CH4) production and in vitro nutrient digestibility. Two strains lactic acid bacteria (LAB) i.e. Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus acidhophilus, and one strain yeast of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used as probiotic. This experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design consisted of 4 treatments as follows grass silage (G); grass silage + concentrate without probiotic (G+A); grass silage + concentrate containing L. plantarum and. S. cerevisiae (G+B); grass silage + concentrate containing L. acidophilus and. S. cerevisiae (G+C); grass silage + concentrate containing L. plantarum and L. acidophilus (G+D). Data were analyzed as completely randomized design and followed by Duncan's multiple range test. The results showed that the concentrate containing LAB varied 1.5 x 10(6) and 3 x 10(7) cfu/g, and 3 x 10(3) cfu/g of S. cerevisiae. Combination between L. plantarum and S. cerevisiae (G+B), and L. acidophilus and S. cerevisiae (G+C) in concentrate increased (P<0.01) propionic acid proportion. The average CH4 production in concentrate containing probiotic (G+C, G+D and D+E) was lower by 6.9% (P<0.01) compared to concentrate without probiotic (G+B). The in vitro dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility were higher (P<0.01) by 25.7% and 6.3% respectively, in grass silage substrate with concentrate containing probiotic (G+C, G+D and G+E) than in grass silage with concentrate without probiotic (G+B). In conclusion, addition of probiotic in concentrate could increase in vitro propionic acid proportion, DM and NDF digestibility and reduce CH4 production.