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Use of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy on feces to estimate digestibility and dry matter intake of dietary nutritional characteristics under grazing conditions in Colombian creole steers

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Abstract

Digestibility and intake are parameters difficult and expensive to estimate under grazing conditions; therefore, the aim of this study was to develop near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) calibrations applied to feces (F-NIRS) and evaluate their accuracy to predict dry matter digestibility (DMD) and dry matter intake (DMI) of Colombian creole cattle. Five digestibility trials using creole steers were conducted; indigestible neutral detergent fiber (iNDF) was used as internal marker and Cr2O3 and TiO2 as external markers. A total of 249 forage and 396 fecal samples from individual animals were collected, dried, and grinded for conventional chemical analysis. For spectral analysis, fecal samples were pooled across collection periods (77 samples). Chemometric analysis was performed using WinISI V4.10 software applying the modified partial least squares method. Cross-validation was performed to avoid overfitting the models. The goodness-of-fit statistics considered were the coefficient of determination in cross-validation and prediction sets (R2cv and r2, respectively) and the ratio performance deviation (RPD). Fecal NIRS calibrations developed for forage and supplement DMD showed a satisfactory fit (R2cv =0.87 and RPD=2.77 and R2cv=0.92 and RPD=3.50, respectively). The accuracy of fecal output equations using chromium (Cr) and titanium (Ti) was similar in terms of R2cv (0.92) and RPD (3.63 vs. 3.57). Total DMI equations using Ti performed better compared to Cr (R2cv = 0.82 vs. 0.78; RPD=2.41 vs. 2.17, respectively). The F-NIRS models were validated using a completely independent set of fecal samples showing a moderate fit (r2>0.8 and RPD>2.0). This study showed that F-NIRS is a feasible tool to predict DMD and DMI of creole steers under grazing conditions. However, previous to socialization, this requires an improvement in accuracy of the calibrated equations related to grazing animals in different production contexts.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during the current study are not publicly available as it will compromise the privacy of research but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

The authors thank the Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural de Colombia (MADR) and the Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (AGROSAVIA) for technical and financial support through the project “Development of nutritional strategies in breeding F1” Grant No. 1000685.This work was supported by the Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural (MADR) of 290 Colombia [1930-TV18-AV17].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (AGROSAVIA), Centro de Investigación Tibaitatá, Km. 14, vía Mosquera–Bogotá, Mosquera, Cundinamarca, Colombia

    Diana Parra-Forero, Andrea Milena Sierra-Alarcón, Olga Mayorga-Mogollón & Claudia Ariza-Nieto

  2. Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (AGROSAVIA), Centro de Investigación El Nus, Autopista Medellín–Cisneros–Puerto Berrio, San Roque, Antioquia, Colombia

    Diana Marcela Valencia-Echavarría

  3. Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (AGROSAVIA), Centro de Investigación Turipaná, Km. 13, vía Montería–Cereté, Córdoba, Colombia

    Lorena Inés Mestra-Vargas & Laura Gualdrón-Duarte

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  1. Diana Parra-Forero
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  2. Diana Marcela Valencia-Echavarría
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Contributions

All authors read and approved the manuscript. CAN, OLM, DMV, LBG, and LIM conceived or designed study, performed research, analyzed data, and wrote the paper. AMS and DMP analyzed data and wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Diana Parra-Forero.

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All experimental procedures were approved by the Bioethics Committee of the Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (AGROSAVIA) (FUA approval no. 020-2018 and no. 028-2019).

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Parra-Forero, D., Valencia-Echavarría, D.M., Mestra-Vargas, L.I. et al. Use of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy on feces to estimate digestibility and dry matter intake of dietary nutritional characteristics under grazing conditions in Colombian creole steers. Trop Anim Health Prod 55, 178 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-023-03571-x

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