Investigating the effects of supplementing fattening lamb diet with small peptides of cottonseed meal on the digestibility and fermentation of nutrients in vitro

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of supplementing fattening lamb diet with various levels of commercial supplement Fortide C, produced from enzymatic hydrolysis of cottonseed meal as a source of small chain peptides, on in vitro gas production and fermentation parameters, nutrients digestibility and activity of rumen microbial enzymes in vitro using rumen liquor of sheep. Dietary treatments were control diet (without Fortide C) and supplementing control diet with Fortide C at the levels of 2.35, 4.70 and 7.70 g/kg of diet on dry matter basis. Results showed that at 16, 24 and 48 h of incubation, the highest and the lowest volume of gas production (GP) was observed in the diet containing the highest level of Fortide C and control diet, respectively (P 0.05). Activity of carboxymethyl cellulase and alpha-amylase increased as the level of Fortide C increased in the diet compared to the control diet (P