Effect of waste mango silage on the in vitro gas production, in situ digestibility, intake, apparent digestibility, and ruminal characteristics in calf diets

Abstract

Background and Aim: Mexico is the fifth largest producer of mangoes in the world. For the conservation of agro-industrial waste and crop residues, the ensiling technique has shown good results. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of increasing the level of mango silage (86% waste mango and 14% pangola grass hay) in calf diets on in vitro gas production, in situ digestibility, intake, apparent digestibility, and ruminal characteristics. Materials and Methods: The diets contained 0 (T0), 30 (T1), 45 (T2), and 60% (T3) mango silage. The partial (24, 48, and 72 h) and cumulative (72 h) biogas, CH4 production, and degradation were determined in the in vitro evaluation. In situ digestibility and estimators of fermentation kinetics of dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM) were determined. Intake, apparent nutrient digestibility, and rumen parameters of calves (200 kg) were evaluated in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. Response to increased mango silage was calculated by linear and quadratic orthogonal contrasts. Results: In vitro partial and cumulative biogas production decreased linearly (p 0.05); in vitro DM degradation, in vitro neutral detergent fiber degradation, and in vitro acid detergent fiber degradation showed a linear increase (p 0.05). Conclusion: The in vitro, in situ, and in vivo variables demonstrated that up to 60% mango silage can be used for the intensive fattening of calves in confinement.

Keywords

• alternative feed
• alternative feeding
• cattle
• silage
• tropics