Aplicación de la tecnología NIR para estimar los parámetros de cinética de fermentación ruminal de forrajes procedentes de zonas áridas de Túnez

Abstract

The objective of this work was to assess the accuracy of prediction of fermentation kinetics parameters of forages from NIR spectra. Forages (79 samples including grasses, legumes or combinations grass-legume) were harvested from arid areas in Tunisia. Ruminal fermentation kinetics were determined in vitro by the gas production technique and NIR spectra were recorded. Prediction equations of rate and extent of forage degradation from NIR spectra were developed. Although a large percentage of variance could be accounted for by the models (R>0.89), prediction equations could not be considered fully satisfactory, most likely due to the large heterogeneity of the forages included for calibration in the study.