Effect of silicate minerals (zeolite, bentonite, kaolin, granite) on in vitro fermentation of amorphous cellulose, meadow hay, wheat straw and barley.

The objective of the present experiment was to determine the effects of addition of silicate minerals, zeolite (Z), bentonite (B), kaolin (K), granite (G) on the rumen fermentation parameters, total gas, methane, total and individual volatile fatty acids (VFA) and hydrogen recovery in rumen fluid inoculum from sheep. Different materials (0.25 g) meadow hay (MH), wheat straw (WS), barley (BA) and amorphous cellulose (AC) were used as substrates. Silicate minerals (0.1 g) were added to the fermentation bottles containing substrates and rumen fluid inoculum and incubated for 72 h in vitro. The gas production technique simulates fermentation in the rumen was used to determine fermentation parameters. The total gas production was significantly higher compared to control for MH plus B (MHB), MH plus G (MHG), WS plus Z (WSZ), WS plus B (WSB), WS plus K (WSK), WS plus G (WSG), AC plus B (ACB), AC plus G (ACG), BA plus Z (BAZ), BA plus B (BAB), BA plus K (BAK), BA plus granite (BAG). Significant differences of the methane production were found between the controls, WSG, BAB and BAK. The total VFA concentration was increased in ACG (83.1 mM). The acetate: propionate (A:P) ratio of the control and additives ranged between 3.1 and 3.6 for MH, 2.7 and 3.5 for WS, 1.6 and 1.8 for AC and 2.3 and 2.9 for BA. It was concluded that the silicate minerals had no appreciable effect on the methane production, however, they support the microbial metabolism by influencing (bentonite, granite) and slightly influencing (zeolite, kaolin) the rumen fermentation.