Resumen:
The aim of this present study was to
evaluate the effect of rabbit diets supplemented with
garlic (Allium sativum L.) extract on in vitro cecal gas
production (GP), carbon dioxide (CO2) productions
and some cecal fermentation parameters. Garlic
extracts were prepared at 0.125 g/mL and administered
at four different doses: 0 (control without garlic
extract), 0.6, 1.2 and 1.8 mL extract/g dry matter
(DM). The in vitro gas production was measured at 2,
4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 24, 36, 48, 60 and 72 h
incubation. The results showed quadratic increase in
asymptotic GP (P = 0.027) and rate of GP (P = 0.037)
but no linear or quadratic effects (P[0.05) was
observed for initial delay before GP. However,
inclusion of garlic extracts at 0.6 and 1.2 mL extract
doses/g DM increased asymptotic GP compared to
control. In in vitro gas yield (GY), there were
quadratic effects for GP24 (P = 0.043) and GP48
(P = 0.029) incubation times. There were no linear
and quadratic effects (P[0.05) in in vitro CO2
production for all the incubation times. However, the
dose of 1.2 mL DM had the highest in vitro CO2
production at 12 h, 24 h and 48 h incubations. The
results suggest that 1.2 mL/g DM garlic extract was
the most effective to improve rabbit cecal fermentation
compared with the other tested doses.