Rumen fluid collected for in vitro digestion studies from wild herbivores c
annot always be used immediately and must be stored. This experiment examin
ed the effect of storage time on the digestive ability of sheep rumen fluid
using five feeds of differing digestibility (three browse species, a tempe
rate grass and a tropical grass).
Rumen fluid was collected, chilled to 18 degrees C and stored under CO2 for
24h and 48h before being used at the same time as fresh rumen fluid. A 72h
rumen fluid/buffer digestion and a 24h acid pepsin digestion was used, to
determine in vitro digestibility. Three separate runs were made, with tripl
icate samples of each feed in each run.
Overall there was a slight decline in digestibility: 50.9, 50.2 and 49.0% w
ith storage times of Oh, 24h and 48h, but differences were not significant
(P>0.05). There was no feed x storage time interaction (P>0.05). It is prop
osed that storage for up to 48h at 18 degrees C would be acceptable for exa
mining digestive capacity of rumen fluid collected from wild animals in rem
ote locations.