Abstract
Application of in vitro enzymatic technique by using both pronase and cellulase was investigated to estimate the digestibility of the herbage of both the native pasture composed of Miscanthus sinensis, Pleioblastus chino var. viridis and Arundinella hirta and the improved pasture composed of temperate grasses. For the native grasses, the in vitro dry matter degradability (IVDMD) was lower (p<0.001) than the in vivo dry matter digestibility (in vivo DMD) measured by total fecal collection (TFC) method. There was a positive significant correlation between the IVDMD and the in vivo DMD. In similar, there was the same relationship as the above between the IVDMD and the in vivo energy digestibility. On the other hand for the temperate grasses, there was no significant difference between the IVDMD and the in vivo DMD measured by the TFC method. Moreover, the relationships between the IVDMD and the in vivo digestibilities measured by acid-insoluble ash (AIA) index methed were considered for the herbage grazed in the improved pasture, since the recovery of AIA was about 100% in the TFC trial. A positive significant correlation was detected betweem the IVDMD and the in vivo energy digestibility measured by the AIA method.
