Fermentation characteristics in hay from Cynodon and crop stubble treated with exogenous enzymes

The effect of treatment with xylanase and β-glucanase was evaluated for gas production and the ruminal degradation of nutrients from the hay of Tifton 85 grass and the stubble of maize, sorghum, peanut, sunflower and sesame crops. Two commercial fibrolytic enzymes were used (Dyadic xylanase PLUS - Xylanase; BrewZyme LP-β-glucanase), added to the hay at doses of 7.5 units of endoglucanase and 0.46 units of xylanase per 500 mg/gDM, for the cellulase and xylanase products respectively. The chemical composition of the hay was determined for no enzyme application and 24 hours after enzyme treatment, and the in vitro gas production and in situ microbial degradation was estimated for dry matter, organic matter, neutral detergent fibre and truly-degradable organic matter after 24 hours of incubation in the rumen. Enzyme treatment of the hay from Tifton 85 grass and the stubble of maize, sorghum, sunflower, peanut and sesame crops with the exogenous fibrolytic enzymes β-glucanase and xylanase influences in vitro gas production, and the in situ degradation of dry matter, organic matter, neutral detergent fibre and truly-degradable organic matter in the rumen. This variation can be attributed to differences in the chemical composition of the hay from the grass and the crop stubble, and to the different ways the enzymes act upon the cell wall.