NUTRITIVE EVALUATION OF Azolla pinnata USING IN VITRO GAS PRODUCTION TECHNIQU

A study was conducted to evaluate the rumen fermentation characteristics of Azolla pinnata by in vitro gas production technique.The chemical composition along with the fibre fractions were determined. The in vitro gas production (IVGP) was recorded and the true organic matter and true dry matter digestibility was determined (TOMD, TDMD). Furthermore, microbial biomass production (MBP), partitioning factor (PF) and metabolisable energy (ME) was predicted from the gas production data. The corresponding values to the above said parameters are 9.87±0.27 ml/200mg DM, 58.49 ± 0.72 percent, 60.37 ± 1.11 per cent, 90.32 ± 2.50 nmg/200mg DM, 11.22 ± 0.46 and 5.15 ± 0.05 MJ/kg DM, respectively. The estimated value for total volatile fatty acid concentration and concentration of VFAs like acetate, propionate, butyrate and valerate were 50.9 ± 0.24, 35.17 ± 0.14, 12.1 ± 0.10, 3.42 ± 0.02 and 0.2 ± 0.01 respectively. It is concluded that Azollan pinnata can be considered in the ruminantnrations because of its high nutritive value and fermentative abilities