@article{Meza-Bone_Meza-Bone_Avellaneda-Cevallo_Godoy-Montiel_Barros-Rodríguez_Jines-Fernández_2021, title={In vitro ruminal degradation of Tithonia diversifolia}, volume={33}, url={https://www.revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/agromeso/article/view/43206}, DOI={10.15517/am.v33i1.43206}, abstractNote={<p><strong><span class="CharOverride-2">Introduction.</span> </strong>The Mocache canton (Ecuador) is a humid tropical zone, with a dry season of six months, which affects the availability and quality of forage, a situation that reduces the productive and reproductive capacity of ruminants. <span class="CharOverride-2"><strong>Objective.</strong> </span>To evaluate the apparent<span class="CharOverride-7"> in vitro</span> ruminal degradation parameters of dry matter (DMD), organic matter (OMD), neutral detergent fiber (NDFD), and acid detergent fiber (ADFD) in <span class="CharOverride-7">Tithonia diversifolia</span> harvested at four different cutting ages during the dry season.<strong> Materials and methods.</strong> The research was carried out at the “La María” Experimental Farm of the Universidad Tecnica Estatal de Quevedo, Ecuador, between August and October 2017. Four rumen fistulated bulls were used. A complete randomized design (CRD) was used. The treatments were: <em><span class="CharOverride-7">Tithonia diversifolia</span></em> at 30 days of cutting (T1), <em><span class="CharOverride-7">Tithonia diversifolia</span></em> at 45 days of cutting (T2), <em><span class="CharOverride-7">Tithonia diversifolia</span></em> at 60 days of cutting (T3), and <em><span class="CharOverride-7">Tithonia diversifolia</span></em> at 75 days of cutting (T4). The incubation times were: 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours with four replicates per treatment. The variables evaluated were: DMD, OMD, NFDD, and AFDD. <span class="CharOverride-2"><strong>Results.</strong> </span>The ruminal degradation parameters showed statistical differences between treatments (p<0.05), with T1 the best DMD, OMD, NDFD, and ADFD were obtained with 36.66, 35.44, 43.16, and 41.55 %, respectively). <strong><span class="CharOverride-2">Conclusion. </span></strong>The highest DMD, OMD, NDFD, and ADFD parameters were associated with the cutting ages and the structural components of the bromatological composition. The cutting age at 30 days in <span class="CharOverride-7">Tithonia diversifolia</span> influenced the potential and the effective nutrients degradation. As the cutting ages increased, the ruminal degradation parameters decreased.</p>}, number={1}, journal={Agronomía Mesoamericana}, author={Meza-Bone, Gary Alex and Meza-Bone, Carlos Javier and Avellaneda-Cevallo, Juan Humberto and Godoy-Montiel, Luis Alverto and Barros-Rodríguez, Marcos Antonio and Jines-Fernández, Fernando}, year={2021}, month={Nov.}, pages={43206} }