Comparison of microbiological and fermentation parameters obtained with an improved rumen in vitro technique with those obtained in vivo

The aim of the present work was to develop and evaluate a rapid in vitro technique to study the activity of rumen micro-organisms and to estimate the nutritive value of feeds. The rumen culture apparatus described here is essentially a batch system, modified in order to obtain conditions of strict anaerobiosis and the balanced growth of all the microbial forms present in the mixed rumen inoculum. Validation of this technique was carried out by comparing studies run simultaneously in vivo and in vitro, analysing microbial flora composition, biochemical parameters of rumen fluid and feed degradability. At the different incubation periods studied, degradability and biochemical parameters had very similar trends in the two systems and the microbiological analysis did not show any significant (P>0.05) differences between the in vivo and the in vitro approaches. The in vitro system described showed the possibility to maintain, for the time studied, a balanced microbial composition, which represents the equilibrium found in the animals. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.