Hartutik Syahrir, Kusmartono, Damry
This study was designed to investigate effects of bioconverting cocoa pod husk with Phanerochaete chrysosporium and or Pleurotus ostreatus on its nutrient contents and in-vitro digestibility in ruminants. Dried and ground cocoa pod husk was mixed with rice bran, CaCO3, and urea and sterilized by autoclaving. Sterilized cocoa pod husk was innoculated then with P. chrysosporium (0, 4, or 8 mg/kg) and or P. ostreatus (0, 15, or 30 mg/kg) in a 3 x 3 factorial experimental design resulting in nine treatment combinations, each of which was replicated three times. The fungi were allowed to ferment the cocoa pod husk and this was followed with proximate and fibre analyses on the cocoa pod husk to assess changes in its nutrients due to fermentation. An in-vitro digestibility test study was also done to investigate effects of the fermentation on the digestibility in ruminants digestive tracts. Results indicated that the fungi did not change dry matter or organic matter contents of the cocoa pod husk. Either fungi increased crude protein content of the cocoa pod husk, and both microorganisms acted sinergetically to reduce that of crude fibre. An interaction effect was also found in the reduction of neutral detergent fibre and lignin content of the cocoa pod husk, but the highest reduction was found for the highest inclusion levels of the fungi in this study. Similarly, the highest combination levels of P. chrysosporium and P. ostreatus in fermenting cocoa pod husk tested in this study produced the highest in-vitro digestibility.
Tadulako University, Palu 94117, Indonesia; Brawijaya University, Malang 65145, Indonesia
