Fermentation of animal components in strict carnivores: a comparative study with cheetah fecal inoculum

Depauw, S., Bosch, G., Hesta, M., Whitehouse-Tedd, K. ORCID: 0000-0003-0061-489X, Hendriks, W.H., Kaandorp, J. and Janssens, G.P.J., 2012. Fermentation of animal components in strict carnivores: a comparative study with cheetah fecal inoculum. Journal of Animal Science, 90 (8), pp. 2540-2548. ISSN 0021-8812

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Abstract

The natural diet of felids contains highly digestible animal tissues but also fractions resistant to small intestinal digestion, which enter the large intestine where they may be fermented by the resident microbial population. Little information exists on the microbial degradability of animal tissues in the large intestine of felids consuming a natural diet. This study aimed to rank animal substrates in their microbial degradability by means of an in vitro study using captive cheetahs fed a strict carnivorous diet as fecal donors. Fresh cheetah fecal samples were collected, pooled, and incubated with various raw animal substrates (chicken cartilage, collagen, glucosamine-chondroitin, glucosamine, rabbit bone, rabbit hair, and rabbit skin; 4 replicates per substrate) for cumulative gas production measurement in a batch culture technique. Negative (cellulose) and positive (casein and fructo-oligosaccharides; FOS) controls were incorporated in the study. Additionally, after 72 h of incubation, short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), including branched-chain fatty acids (BCFA), and ammonia concentrations were determined for each substrate. Glucosamine and glucosamine-chondroitin yielded the greatest OM cumulative gas volume (OMCV) among animal substrates (P < 0.05), whereas total SCFA production was greatest for collagen (P < 0.05). Collagen induced an acetate production comparable to FOS and a markedly high acetate-to-propionate ratio (8.41:1) compared to all other substrates (1.67:1 to 2.97:1).

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Journal of Animal Science
Creators:	Depauw, S., Bosch, G., Hesta, M., Whitehouse-Tedd, K., Hendriks, W.H., Kaandorp, J. and Janssens, G.P.J.
Publisher:	American Society of Animal Science
Place of Publication:	Champaign, IL, USA
Date:	2012
Volume:	90
Number:	8
ISSN:	0021-8812
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.2527/jas.2011-4377 DOI
Rights:	Copyright © by the American Society of Animal Science
Divisions:	Schools > School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences
Record created by:	EPrints Services
Date Added:	09 Oct 2015 10:41
Last Modified:	09 Jun 2017 13:36
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16673

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