Nutritional evaluation of wheat straw treated with Crinipellis sp. in Sahiwal calves

Wheat straw was subjected to solid-state fermentation (SSF) with lignolytic white-rot fungus (WRF) Crinipellis sp. for 5 days to improve the nutritive value and digestibility. The fungal treatment caused a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in cell wall constituents viz., neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), hemicellulose, lignin, and cellulose to the extent of 10.4, 11.2, 8.7, 8.7, and 12.1 %, respectively, with increase (P < 0.05) in crude protein (CP) (51.6%) and ash (25.8%) contents in fungal treated wheat straw (FT-WS) than untreated wheat straw (UT-WS). Further, in vitro gas production, in vitro true dry matter digestibility and in vitro true organic matter digestibility at 48 h, metabolizable energy (ME) content, microbial biomass production, and short-chain fatty acids synthesis were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in FT-WS. In vivo feeding trial in 10 Sahiwal calves (8-12 months) comprised of (1) control group (T1) fed with ad libitum chopped UT-WS and (2) treatment group (T2) offered with ad libitum chopped FT-WS, in addition to supplementation of groundnut cake and green berseem (Trifolium alexandrium) forage to both groups. Digestibility of nutrients for dry matter (DM), organic matter, CP, NDF, ADF, hemicellulose, cellulose, and total carbohydrates were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in T2 compared to T1. Moreover, daily DM (P < 0.05), digestible crude protein (P < 0.01), and ME intakes were also higher (P < 0.05) in group T2 with higher (P < 0.05) nitrogen (N) retention, which resulted in significantly (P < 0.05) higher average daily gain in body weight (135 vs. 102 g/day). It was concluded that SSF with WRF Crinipellis sp. holds potential in upgrading the nutritional worth of wheat straw for feeding growing calves.