Ruminal Microbial Fermentation of Dromedary Camel in A Dual Flow Continu-Ous Culture System Using Cultivable and Pasture Forages

In this experiment eight 1,600 ml dual-flow continuous culture fermenters were used to measure the fermentation pattern of cultivable and pasture forages in camel. two adult camels were used as rumen inocula donors. fermenters were fed with 120 g of dm/d in 3 equal portions at 08:00, 16:00, and 24:00 h. the trial contained two treatments of four replicate each in a completely ran-domized design. the treatments consisted (dm basis) of alfalfa hay (40%) and wheat straw (60%) as the cultivable forages, and atriplex l. (80%), suaeda f. (10%), and seidlitzia r. (10%) as the pasture forages. digestibility coefficients of dm, ndf and adf were significantly smaller (p < 0.05) in cultivable than pasture forages. digestibility of om for cultivable forages was significantly larger (p < 0.05) than pasture forages. total vfa, acetic, propionic, butyric, valeric and iso-valeric acids concentrations were significantly lower in (p < 0.01) pasture forages than cultivable forages. en-doglucanase and exoglucanase activities were higher (p < 0.01) in cultivable forages than pasture forages. maximum nh3-n concentration for cultivable and pasture forages were observed at 2 and 4 h after feeding, respectively. the nh3-n concentration at 0 and 8 h after feeding was higher (p < 0.05) for pasture forages than cultivable forages. the ph of the fermenter content containing cultivable forages was lower (p < 0.05) than that for pasture forages. it seems that the presence of pasture forges in the diet, probably as a result of anti-nutrients in the forages, delayed the normal ruminal fermentation but may have been compensated by the decomposition of anti-nutritional substances by the microorganisms during the final hours of incubation.