Ex-Vivo Anaerobic Digestion of Non-palatable Pastoral Plant Toward Non-traditional Animal Feed

Abdulhakim Bawadekji¹ and Maen Taher Idell²

¹Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, Northern Border University, P.O.Box 1321, 91431 Arar, Saudi Arabia.

²Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Arts (Qelwah), Al-Baha University, P. O. Box, 1988, 65941 Qelwah, Saudi Arabia.

Corresponding Author E-mail: hakimbawadekji@gmail.com

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/2690

ABSTRACT: It is forecasted that by the end of 2025, 2.2 billion tons waste, including the non-palatable plants, will be generated annually. This is a foreseeable concern for the public health and the economy. Accordingly, waste management programs, including for the unused, unacceptable, or unpalatable plants, have been initiated worldwide. The aim of this study was to process an ex-vivo anaerobic digestion of the non-palatable pastoral plant to produce non-traditional animal feed. Five plants were selected for the present study, namely, Aerva javanica, Capparis cartilaginea, Ochradenus baccatus, Salvadora persica, and Senna alexandrina. These plants were collected from the endangered pasture from the Al-Baha region of the south west of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The collected plants were shredded into small pieces, and were subjected for the anaerobic digestion at 20^oC, 30^oC, and 40^oC for 90 days. The evaluation of plant acceptability was achieved by observing the animals and the quantity of the digested plant material consumed by the animals. The results of the plant acceptability were very promising with respect to O. baccatus, S. persica and S. alexandrina. Good acceptability upto 100% was observed for the digested material of these plants at all the studied temperatures, 20^oC, 30^oC, and 40^oC. It is concluded that similar studies should be carried out in other regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at large scale and on a large number of non palatable pastoral plants.

KEYWORDS: Acceptability; Ex-vivo Anaerobic Digestion; Non-Palatable Pastoral ; Non-traditional Forage; Sheep.

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