Effects of fibrolytic enzyme supplementation on feed intake, digestibility and rumen fermentation characteristics in goats fed with Leucaena silage

The primary objective of this study was to determine the effect of adding fibrolytic enzyme cocktail, which was derived from dried tomato pomace treated with Aspergillus niger, to Leucaena silage on total gas production by using in vitro gas techniques. In addition, the effect of these enzymes on voluntary feed intake, nutrient digestibility, and rumen fermentation were determined using 8 male, crossbred Anglo Nubian x Native goats. The experiment was designed as a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square. The experimental treatments were randomly assigned to each sequence of feeding of the 4 experimental treatments, i.e., 0%, 0.2%, 0.4%, and 0.8% (dry matter) of enzyme cocktail supplemented to Leucaena silage. The addition of 0.4% enzyme cocktail increased total gas production at 96 h, which was not different from the addition of commercial cellulase. Gas production from the insoluble fraction (b) was improved by increasing the enzyme cocktail levels (P = 0.039). The voluntary intake of Leucaena silage increased with an increase in the addition of enzyme level (P = 0.025). The dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, NDF and ADF digestibility's were also increased by increasing the addition of enzyme cocktail level. The addition of enzyme cocktail increased the Prevotella_1 in rumen fluid compared with the untreated group. In conclusion, at 0.4%, the fibrolytic enzyme cocktail derived from A. niger increased feed intake, nutrient digestibility, and ruminal fibrolytic bacteria community in goats.