F.M.A. Amirul, N.A. Mazlan, S. Sadarman, N.D. Rusli, M.M. Sholikin, A. Irawan, D. Febrina, N. Qomariyah, R.A. Nurfitriani, S. Aditya, A. Jayanegara, M.Z. Saad, D.N. Adli, H.A. Hassim
This meta-analysis compiles data on buffalo consumption of cassava as a feed ingredient to evaluate its impact on in vivo rumen fermentation, feed intake, nutrient intake, growth performance, digestibility, nitrogen metabolism, haematology, microbiology, and milk yield. A systematic search of Scopus and Web of Science identified 19 in vivo experiments. Cassava varieties were categorized as by-products, foliage, and roots, while buffaloes were stratified based on management system, breed, and sex. A linear mixed model was applied to estimate the effects of cassava inclusion. The findings indicated feed and nutrient intake, particularly crude protein intake and nitrogen retention, increased significantly (p<0.05), while crude protein digestibility showed no significant difference. Microbiological parameters, including total bacterial and fungal counts, also increased significantly (p<0.05), whereas methane production after 24 hours declined significantly (p<0.05). Although production parameters such as body weight, feed conversion, and milk yield were not significantly affected, a trend toward improvement was observed, except for feed conversion. Cassava root and foliage exhibited the highest digestibility and nitrogen retention compared to by-product (p<0.05). A restricted feeding system resulted in higher ammonia (NH3-N) concentrations, protozoa count, and proteolytic and cellulolytic microbial populations compared to ad libitum feeding and an extensive system (p<0.05). Murrah buffaloes showed greater feed intake, while male buffaloes demonstrated higher digestibility (p<0.05). In conclusion, dietary cassava, approximately 1.5% to 20.5% DM, potentially stimulates rumen fermentation, nutrient intake, digestibility, and microbiology but has only a modest effect on production parameters. High cassava inclusion may reduce feed acceptability, thereby decreasing feed efficiency. Copyright © 2025 by Authors, published by Tropical Animal Science Journal. This is an open-access article distributed under the CC BY-SA 4.0 License, (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Animal Production and Nutrition Research Group, Department of Veterinary Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan, 16100, Malaysia; Advanced Livestock and Aquaculture Research Group (ALAREG), Faculty of Agro-Based Industry, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Jeli Campus, Jeli, Kelantan, 17600, Malaysia; Department of Animal Science, Universitas Islam Negeri Sultan Syarif Kasim, Pekanbaru, 28293, Indonesia; Animal Feed and Nutrition Modelling Research Group (AFENUE), IPB University, Bogor, 16680, Indonesia; Department of Agriculture Science, Faculty of Agro-Based Industry, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Jeli Campus, Jeli, Kelantan, 17600, Malaysia; Research Center for Animal Husbandry, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Bogor, 16915, Indonesia; Vocational School, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, 57126, Indonesia; Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, 97331, Oregon, United States; Research Centre for Animal Husbandry, Research Organization for Agriculture and Food National Research and Innovation Agency of The Republic of Indonesia (BRIN), Cibinong Sciences Center, Bogor, Indonesia; Department of Animal Science, Politeknik Negeri Jember, Jember, Indonesia; Research Group of Feed-Food Safety, Research Center for Food Technology and Processing, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, East Java, Malang, 65514, Indonesia; Faculty of Animal Science, Department of Animal Feed and Nutrition, IPB University, Bogor, 16680, Indonesia; Department of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnostics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Serdang, 43400, Malaysia; Department of Veterinary Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Serdang, 43400, Malaysia; Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Food Security, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Serdang, 43400, Malaysia; Department Feed and Animal Nutrititon, Smart Livestock Study Programme, Universitas Brawijaya, East Java, Malang, 65145, Indonesia
