In situ and in vitro degradation kinetics and prediction of the digestible neutral detergent fiber of agricultural and agro-industrial byproducts

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the in situ and in vitro degradation kinetics and to predict the digestible neutral detergent fiber (dNDF) from the incubation times; in situ and in vitro degradation kinetic parameters; and equations fitted for agricultural and agro-industrial byproducts. Byproducts from pineapple, cocoa, palm kernel, corn gluten meal, common bean, sunflower, guava, cassava bark, cassava stems, cassava foliage, papaya, mango, passion fruit and turnips were evaluated. There were differences between the byproducts as for the potentially neutral detergent fiber (NDF) fraction and the in situ NDF degradation rate in the final volume of the gases generated by fibrous carbohydrates (FC), for the lag time and for the in vitro fractional degradation rate of the FC. There was equivalence between the dNDF values predicted in situ and those observed in vivo; however, there was low precision of estimates. The degradability in the in vitro incubation times of 30 and 48 hours presented equivalence with the values observed, but also did not present precision in the estimates. The equations fitted without lignin were not precise and accurate to estimate the dNDF of agricultural and agro-industrial byproducts. The equation with lignin and with the digestion rate obtained by the in vitro method presented more precise estimates. Byproducts from common bean, cassava bark and papaya presented greater NDF availability, whereas those of guava had the lowest NDF availability. The digestible NDF fraction was best predicted with the in situ incubation time of 72 hours. The equation fitted utilizing in vitro or in situ digestion rates enables the prediction of the NDF availability of agricultural and agroindustrial byproducts.