Efecto del consumo de dietas a base de residuos postcosecha de theobroma cacao sobre las funciones ruminales en bovinos

Abstract

The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the effect of cocoa residue flour, incorporated in cannulated male adult bovine diets, on the main ruminal functions, for which three treatments, one control treatment (T0) a treatment with 15% cocoa residue flour (T1) and another with 30% cocoa residue flour (T2). The ruminal functions evaluated were: voluntary consumption, pH, ammonia nitrogen and VFA, kinetics of in situ ruminal degradation and gas production in vitro, parameters that showed a positive trend over treatment with 15% cocoa residue flour. In the analysis on voluntary consumption, T1 and T2 were the most accepted, and ruminal pH remained below 6, decreasing cellulolytic activity, but optimal for amylolytic ruminal microorganisms, which favors the degradation of non-structural carbohydrates and with this , the formation of propionic acid in the rumen; the results obtained in the D2 were possibly due to the unsaturated fat content of the cocoa residues, which influences the formation of energy through the propionic acid in the rumen, in terms of kinetics of the in situ degradability of Matter Dry matter and Organic matter, the highest degradation was obtained in the bulls fed with T1 and T2, in fraction A (soluble fraction / MS: P = 0.0100-MO: P = 0.0008), and the trend was maintained with respect to the hours of ruminal degradation, however, in the analysis of in vitro gas production, it was observed that T2 generates the lowest total gas production (P = <0,0001) on the incubated diets. It was concluded that adding to a balanced diet 15% of cocoa residue meal, generates an effective degradation on the nutrients consumed by the animal and also decreases the volume of production of greenhouse gases, optimizing the productivity of the animal, and which improves their nutrition by effectively degrading ingested foods and reducing their energy expenditure in the production of greenhouse gases.