| Summary: | This study aims to increase the in vitro ruminal degradability of oil palm fronds (OPFs) through enzymatic pretreatment. The isolated fungi were selected based on their lignocellulosic degrading enzyme activities. Eleven fungi were successfully isolated, and their enzyme activities were evaluated. Three fungi, F1, F2 and F4 were selected, and they were identified as <i>Trichoderma harzianum</i> MK027305, <i>Trichoderma harzianum</i> MK027306 and <i>Fusarium solani</i> MK027309, respectively. The highest total gas and methane production was produced when OPFs were pretreated with an enzyme extract from 15 and 30 days of solid-state fermentation of <i>T. harzianum</i> MK027305 and <i>T. harzianum</i> MK027306, respectively. Meanwhile, OPFs pretreated with an enzyme extract from <i>F. solani</i> MK027309 after 45 days of solid-state fermentation produced the highest amount of volatile fatty acids. The pretreatment using the enzymes extracted from 45 days of solid-state fermentation of <i>F. solani</i> MK027309 increases the apparent rumen degradable carbohydrate (ARDC) by 35.29% compared to unpretreated OPF. This study showed that pretreatment of the OPFs using selected fungi’s enzymes increases the volatile fatty acid production and in vitro ruminal degradability of OPF, hence improving livestock production via increased utilization of agricultural by-products with minimal impact on the production cost.
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