Spice Supplementation of forage based ruminant diets

The contents of this book are derived from a PhD work. This book will be benefit the students and researchers who are involved in ruminant nutrition research especially in developing countries where low quality forages are a major part of ruminant diets. The first chapter of this book details factors that limit forage digestion, methods that can improve forage quality and supplements including herbs and spices that can enhance microbial activity to increase forage utilisation by ruminants. The 2nd chapter describes the laboratory methods that can be used to determine chemical composition and their application to characterise selected forages, spices and legumes for their nutritional as well as supplementary value for ruminant feeding. The 3rd and 4th chapter present data on the in vitro forage degradability and fermentation profiles in response to different experimental treatments. Finally, the last chapter presents summary and conclusions which may help develop strategies for the use of spices as supplements for ruminants.