Effect of supplementation with pelleted citrus pulp on digestibility and intake in beef cattle fed a tropical grass-based diet (Cynodon nlemfuensis)

Citrus pulp is an important by-product for sub-tropical and tropical ruminant animal production. In this study, three steers (average body weight = 324 ± 16 kg) were randomly assigned to three levels of pelleted citrus pulp (PCP) supplementation (0, 1.25, and 2.5 kg animal−1 d−1; as-fed) in a 3 × 3 Latin square design to evaluate its effects on forage intake, digestion, and ruminal pH. The basal diet was stargrass (Cynodon nlemfuensis) harvested and chopped every day and fed fresh. Supplementation with increasing amounts of PCP tended (P≤0.10) to result in a linear increase in digestibility of total diet dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM), but no effects were noticed for digestibility of forage DM or total diet neutral detergent fiber. Forage DM intake decreased linearly (P=0.03) with increasing PCP supplementation, although the decrease tended (quadratic; P=0.08) to be of greater magnitude at the highest level of supplementation. Both a linear increase (P<0.01) and a quadratic trend (greatest increase with first level of supplementation; P=0.09) were also observed for intake of total digestible OM. Average ruminal pH was between 6.6 and 7.2 and was not affected (P=0.29) by supplementation treatment. Although supplementation with PCP depressed forage consumption somewhat, little effect on forage digestion was observed. The provision of digestible OM in the form of supplement was greater than that lost via depressed forage consumption, resulting in an overall increase in energy supply. Our results suggest that high levels of citrus pulp to beef cattle can lower forage intake, but increase total energy intake. High levels of citrus pulp supplementation could be beneficial in combination with forages high in rumen dagradable protein. Systems using grasses with higher ruminally degradable protein content than we used, may benefit from this extra supply of energy which should be tested in a further experiment.