Exogenous fibrolytic enzymes addition in concentrate ration of lactating Nili Ravi buffaloes: Effects on milk production and diet digestibility

Poor availability of good quality feedstuffs for the feeding of livestock has been identified as the major hurdles in the development of livestock sector in pakistan. to improve the poor quality roughages,exogenous fibrolytic enzyme may play important role by enhancing digestibility of fibre. this study was carried out to evaluate the effects of varying level of fibrolytic enzyme in concentrate ration on dry matter (dm) intake,milk production and composition,and diet digestibility in nili ravi buffaloes. four lactating nili-ravi buffaloes of 3rd and 4th parity and milk production of 8±2.3 kg/day were selected and offered a basal diet based on sorghum forage and concentrate ration supplemented with fibrolytic enzyme (fibrozyme™,alltech inc. company,usa) at four levels (t1 = 0,t2 = 10,t3 = 15 and t4 = 20 g/animal/day) in a 4 × 4 latin square change-over design with four experimental periods. each period consisted of a 14-days enzyme supplementation period following a 3-day transition period without enzyme supplementation between consecutive experimental periods. the results showed a significant linear (p<0.001) increase in the intakes of dm,cp and ndf by the animals with increasing level of enzyme in the diet. the milk yield increased until an enzyme supplementation of 15 g/day (t3) and then dropped. the yield of milk protein,fat,solids not fat and lactose were not affected (p>0.05). milk fat,solids not fat and lactose concentrations differed (p<0.001) among the treatments but did not show (p>0.05) any linear or quadratic trends with increasing level of enzyme in the diet. milk protein concentration linearly (p<0.001) increased with increasing level of enzyme in the diets. it is concluded that fibrolytic enzyme addition in the diets of lactating nili ravi buffaloes improves the dry matter intake and diet digestibility which results in improved milk production. copyright 2017 zoological society of pakistan.