Degradation of Dry Matter and Fiber of Five Feeds by Rumen Anaerobic Fungi of Sheep

An experiment was carried out to estimate the potential activity of rumen anaerobic fungi in the degradation of dry matter and fiber of feeds. Samples of wheat bran, bagasse, cotton seed, alfalfa and corn silage were used as the substrates to culture rumen fungi which were isolated from a fistulated Shal sheep. Loss percentages of dry matter (DML), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent (ADL), cellulose, and hemicellulose of samples were measured after 0, 3, 6 and 9 days of incubation. Dry matter and NDF loss of substrates varied from 10.6 % to 29.4% and 11.7% to 48.7% after 9 days of fungi growth. The highest and lowest DML and NDF were related to alfalfa and bagasses, respectively. The highest values for the ADF loss (39%), hemicellulose loss (65.6%) and cellulose loss (55.6%) were measured from alfalfa. The results indicated that rumen anaerobic fungi have the ability of degrading dry matter and fiber from different types of feed.