Effects of Treating Prosopis Juliflora Pods with Multi-Enzyme, with and Without Bacterial Cultures on In-Vitro Dry Matter Digestibility (IVDMD), Fermentation Kinetics and Performance of Growing Pigs

Abstract This study was conducted to determine the effects of treating Prosopis juliflora pods with multi-enzyme and bacterial cultures on in-vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), fermentation kinetics and performance of growing pigs. Experiment one consisted of a pepsin-pancreatine hydrolysis method to simulate in-vitro, the pig digestive system and was followed by in-vitro gas production to assess fermentation kinetics. Samples of ground Prosopis pod meal (GPPM) were allocated to four treatments with three replicates each. Treatments included GPPM treated with multi-enzyme (Natuzyme®) (T1); Untreated (GPPM) (T2); GPPM fermented with (Lactobacillus plantarum MTD1 Ecosyl ®) (T3) and GPPM treated using natural fermentation (T4). The second experiment assessed the performance of pigs fed the best treatment from experiment 1. Thirty Landrace x Large white crosses of 20 ± 2 Kg were allotted to five treatments with six pigs each (replicates). The dietary treatments were PC -0% GPPM + Enzyme; NC − 0% GPPM and 0% Enzyme; D1–10% GPPM + Enzyme; D2- 20% GPPM + Enzyme; and D3- 30% GPPM + Enzyme. The completely randomized block design was used for both experiments. Enzyme treatment (T1) and T3 improved the IVDMD of the GPPM compared to T2 by 3.68% and 1.2% respectively (p < 0.05). Cumulative gas was highest and Tmax lowest for T1 but significantly different only to T4 (p < 0.05). Average daily gain and intake was highest for pigs fed GPPM up to 10% (PC, D1). Feed conversion ratio increased with the level of GPPM in the diet. Results suggest Prosopis juliflora pods treated with enzymes can be added in pig diets up to 30%.