The effect of microbial consortia from wild herbivores on goats’ browse utilization

Nokwethemba Nqobile Philile Msimango; Fabian Nde Fon

Nokwethemba Nqobile Philile Msimango Department of Agriculture, Faulty of Science and Agriculture, University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa 3886, South Africa
Fabian Nde Fon Department of Agriculture, Faulty of Science and Agriculture, University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa 3886, South Africa

Keywords: cellulose, degradability, enzyme activity, fermentation, tannin

Abstract

The effect of inocula from wild herbivores on goat utilization of Acacia sieberiana and fibrolytic potential was evaluated. Consortia were created by mixing faecal inoculum from impala, giraffe and kudu with that of goat; N1 (goat + impala, 1:1), N2 (goat + kudu, 1:1), N3 (goat + giraffe+ kudu, 1:1:1) and N4 (goat + giraffe + kudu + impala, 1:1:1:1)). Crude protein enzyme extracts from fresh faecal samples were precipitated by ammonium sulphate and assayed for exocellulase, endocellulase and hemicellulase activities by incubating with crystalline cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose and xylan at 38ºC with an optimum pH of 5.5 for 72, 2, and 2 h, respectively. In vitro degradability was carried out by mixing faecal inoculum with salivary buffer containing 1 g of Acacia sieberiana and 10% tannin before incubating for 72 h at 38ºC. Apparent degradability (APD), true degradability (TD), neutral detergent fibre degradability (NDFdeg), acid detergent fibre degradability (ADFdeg), cellulose degradability (CELLdeg), hemicellulose degradability (HEMdeg) and microbial yield (MY) were calculated. Hemicellulase and endocellulase activities were highest (P<0.05) in N1 while N2 showed the highest exocellulase activity. Microbial ecosystem N3 had the highest (P<0.05) NDFdeg, ADFdeg, TD indicating positive synergism. Therefore, microbial ecosystems from wild herbivores have the potential to improve browse utilisation in domestic goat and can be cost-effective if established but further experimentation in vivo is required.

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