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Lookup NU author(s): Kawa Merkhan, James Standen, Dr Abdul ChaudhryORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2025 the author(s), published by De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston.This study used thawed rumen fluid (TRF) to assess in vitro degradability and its relationship with the phytochemical and fibre contents of four herbs (green tea leaves, great burnet leaves, eucalyptus leaves, and oregano leaves) and five spices (black seed, cumin seeds, garlic bulb, onion flesh, and grape peel) using multivariate approaches. Duplicate samples of each herb and spice were incubated with TRF from each of four replicated steers for 48 h in an ANKOM DaisyII incubator. The results showed that each group of herbs and spices had different proximate, fibre, and phytochemical contents. Apparently, TRF was effective in estimating the in vitro degradability of different herbs and spices. Moreover, in vitro degradability was positively associated with total saponin content, while negatively correlated with fibre fractions. Principal component analysis identified two main dimensions, one associated with ‘fibre fractions’ and the other with ‘phytochemicals’, which were interpreted as the main factors influencing degradability. The multiple regression analysis demonstrated a positive correlation coefficient for the phytochemical contents of garlic bulb and onion flesh, indicating a considerable improvement in dry matter degradability (DMD). Additionally, the DMD values were significantly improved, as indicated by the positive correlations for the fibre fractions of onion flesh and green tea leaves. It can be concluded that the current multivariate analysis may be more accurate and useful for selecting or ranking various plants before their use as feed additives. However, further in vitro studies are needed to examine the effects of different levels of herbs and spices on degradability, fermentation, and gas production profiles of a much wider range of feeds and forages. This could be achieved by using TRF when fresh rumen fluid is not easily available due to the ever-increasing restrictions and logistics at an abattoir.
Author(s): Merkhan K, Standen J, Chaudhry AS
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Open Agriculture
Year: 2025
Volume: 10
Issue: 1
Online publication date: 04/11/2025
Acceptance date: 10/10/2025
Date deposited: 02/12/2025
ISSN (electronic): 2391-9531
Publisher: De Gruyter
URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/opag-2025-0476
DOI: 10.1515/opag-2025-0476
Data Access Statement: None of the data or models has been submitted to an official repository. The corresponding author can provide the datasets generated and analysed during the current investigation upon reasonable request
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