Judul: The productivity and characteristics of meat from buffalo fed ration containing protected fatty acid
Abstrak: Buffalo meat sold in traditional market generally comes from aged draft animals. The meat is usually characterised by tough, dark in color and strong odor, and therefore less preferred by consumers. The quality of buffalo meat may be improved through fattening program. In the fattening program, buffalo may exhibit a considerable increase in the growth rate, also it produces better qualities of carcass and meat. Buffalo feed comes from forage and concentrate in which feed supplements can be added. One of the feed supplement is fish oil since it is rich in unsaturated fatty acids i.e. omega-3 fatty acids such as EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid, C20:5(n-3)) and DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid, C22:6(5-3)). EPA and DHA have a specific function and play an important role in growth, prevent various diseases such as heart disease, cancer and inflammation, and positively affect the body metabolism including the brain and retina development. In rumen digestion, both saturated and unsaturated fats undergo a process of fermentation and hydrogenation by rumen microbes which change them into saturated fatty acids. This can results in a high saturated fatty acid content of the ruminant meat. The high unsaturated fatty acids of the fish oil could be protected from rumen digestion through a chemical process known as saponification to form a dry carboxylate salt mixture (DCM). This allows the proctected unsaturated fatty acids of the feed to be stored in the meat. This research aimed to examine the productivity and characteristics of the carcass and meat of buffalo and cattle fattened on concentrate based ration containing protected Lemuru fish oil in the form of dry carboxylate salt mixture (DCM), which was rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids. The study was divided into three activities : 1) The in vitro study with the aim of examining the fermentation products from rumen fluid from buffalo and PO cattle given three different rations, which were K0 (forage+concentrate), K1 (K0+DCM) and K2 (K0+ fish oil). 2) The buffalo and cattle fattening study with the aims of examining the effects of swamp buffalo and PO cattle given rations withaout DCM supplementation (forage+concentrate) and DCM supplementation (forage+concentrate+DCM) on feed consumption, feed and nutrient digestibilities, growth performance, feed conversion, rumen digestion and rumen microbial profiles. 3) The characterization of carcass and meat studies with the aims of examining the carcass productivity and meat properties of swamp buffalo and PO cattle fattened on rations with and withaout DCM supplementation. The in vitro results showed that the supplementation of protected Lemuru fish oil in the form of DCM could protect the fatty acids from biohydrogenation in the rumen, although it could not increase the activity of rumen fermentation. The supplementation of protected Lemuru fish oil in to the ration of fattening buffaloes and cattle could increase feed consumption, concentration and proportion of VFA, and microbial population in the rumen. On concentrate based ration fattening, buffalo showed significantly (P<0.05) higher growth rate than PO cattle, because the buffaloes had significantly (P<0.05) higher dry matter consumption, eventhough they had simillar feed conversion and nutrient digestibilities. Buffaloes had significantly (P<0.05) lower dressing percentage and bone weight
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