Diets with different forage/concentrate ratios for the Mediterranean Italian Buffalo: in vivo and in vitro digestibility.

In vivo and in vitro digestibility of 6 diets with a forage to concentrate ratio (F/C) ranging from 100 to 50:50 (diet 1: all hay, diet 2: 90:10, diet 3: 80:20, diet 4: 70:30, diet 5: 60:40, diet 6: 50:50) were investigated using 6 buffaloes in a 6 x 6 Latin square design. For the in vivo trial, the individual faeces of buffaloes were collected 3 times per day for 7 days. Individual pooled faeces and samples of each diet were analysed for chemical composition and insoluble acid ash (AIA) contents in order to estimate the coefficient of apparent digestibility (ADC). On the last day of the in vivo trial a sample of faeces was collected from each animal and used as inoculum for the in vitro test, using the gas production technique (IVGPT). The in vivo organic matter digestibility (ADC) rose as the percentage of concentrate increased up to the 70:30 (F/C) diet (67.01, 73.03, 78.06 and 79.05, respectively for diets 1, 2, 3 and 4); the other two diets (60:40 and 50:50 F/C) unexpectedly did not follow this trend (75.11 and 79.06, respectively for diet 5 and 6). However, these data agree with the results of the in vitro trial. The ADC was positively correlated with the dOM (p<0.001), but not with the gas production at different times; cumulative gas production recorded at the end of incubation (OMCV) showed an irregular trend and was not closely correlated to degraded OM. Estimation of in vivo digestibility from in vitro fermentation data was acceptable, despite leaving room for improvement.