Determination of in vitro rumen digestibility and potential feed value of tiger nut varieties

Tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus L.), or chufa, is a plant that is found in nature and is cultivated for its edibletubers. The purpose of this study was to determine the chemical composition, nutritive value, and in vitrodigestibility of three tiger nut varieties using the in vitro gas production technique. These varieties were Sarışeker(yellow), Introduction 1, and Balyumru (brown). Rumen fluid was obtained from two cannulated Holstein animals.Time-dependent in vitro gas production was monitored at 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours of incubation. Thevarieties differed in dry matter (DM), crude ash (CA), ether extract (EE), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), and nonfibre carbohydrate (NFC) content (P <0.05). They also differed in the instantaneous volume of gas produced andin time-dependent gas production. Balyumru produced more gas at the onset of incubation than Introduction 1and Sarışeker. However, over time, the gas produced by digestion of Introduction 1 exceeded the other twovarieties. The amounts of gas produced at each time-point were intercorrelated. It is recommended that theseresults should lead to further evaluation in in vivo studies.