In vitro fermentation of cellulose, beet pulp, citrus pulp, and citrus pectin using fecal inoculum from cats, dogs, horses, humans, and pigs and ruminal fluid from cattle.

We evaluated the influence of gastrointestinal tract microflora from several species on fiber fermentation characteristics in vitro. Selected fibrous substrates (cellulose, beet pulp, citrus pulp, and citrus pectin) were incubated for 6, 12, 24, and 48 h with ruminal fluid from cattle or feces from dogs, cats, pigs, horses, or humans. When data were pooled across all substrates and fermentation times, OM disappearance (29.4%) and acetate, propionate, butyrate, and total short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production (1.09, .41, .12, and 1.61 mmol/g of OM, respectively) were lowest (P < .05), and lactate production (.23 mmol/g of OM) was greatest (P < .05) for horse fecal microflora compared with samples from the other species. The greatest (P < .05) acetate production resulted when substrates were fermented by cat fecal microflora (2.38 mmol/g of OM). The greatest (P < .05) propionate productions resulted from pig fecal and cattle ruminal microflora (.88 and .83 mmol/g of OM, respectively), and the greatest (P < .05) butyrate productions resulted from human and pig fecal microflora (.39 and .40 mmol/g of OM, respectively). Total SCFA production was greatest (P < .05) for cat fecal microflora (3.38 mmol/g of OM). When data were pooled across the species, substrate OM disappearance and SCFA production ranked from least to greatest in the following order: cellulose < beet pulp < citrus pulp < citrus pectin. The fermentability of different fibrous substrates by fecal or ruminal microflora from various species seems to be dependent not only on the fermentative activity of the microbial population but on other factors as well, perhaps lag time and rate of digesta passage.