Use of tannase‐producing bacteria isolated from the rumen to improve the nutritional value of pomegranate peel for fattening lambs

Background The use of plants and by‐products, which are containing a high amount of secondary and anti‐nutritional compounds such as tannins, in animal feed is limited. The methods that can reduce these compounds make facilitate their use in animal feed. Objectives The aim of this study was to reduce the adverse effects of pomegranate peel (PP) tannin for fattening lambs using the tannase‐producing bacteria. Methods Twenty‐one Arabi male lambs (averagely 35 ± 3.8 kg weight and 8 ± 1.0 months age) were used in a completely randomized design with three treatments and seven replications in the present experiment. The experimental treatments included 1 – control diet (CNT, no PP), 2 – diet containing untreated PP (raw PP, UTPP) and 3 – diet containing PP treated with tannase‐producing bacteria (bacteria treating PP, BTPP). Results Using UTPP decreased nutrient intake compared to the control and treatment with tannase‐producing bacteria again significantly increased nutrient intake compared to the UTPP (p