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Semi-automation of the in vitro gas production technique using a pressure transducer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2021

R.M. Mauricio ,
M.S. Dhanoa ,
E. Owen ,
K.S. Channa ,
F.L. Mould  and
M.K. Theodorou
R.M. Mauricio
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, The University of Reading, Earley Gate, PO Box 236, Reading RG6 6AT
M.S. Dhanoa
Affiliation:
IGER, Plus Gogerddan, Aberystwyth, SY23 3EB
E. Owen
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, The University of Reading, Earley Gate, PO Box 236, Reading RG6 6AT
K.S. Channa
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, The University of Reading, Earley Gate, PO Box 236, Reading RG6 6AT
F.L. Mould
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, The University of Reading, Earley Gate, PO Box 236, Reading RG6 6AT
M.K. Theodorou
Affiliation:
IGER, Plus Gogerddan, Aberystwyth, SY23 3EB
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Extract

The use of a syringe (manual method) to measure gas production is time consuming and inaccurate. In addition the time taken prevents frequent measurements and therefore does not allow gas production kinetics to be fully described. According to Boyle's Law, gas volume corrected for temperature, is directly related to pressure. A simple, semi-automatic system recording of gas pressure and equations to estimate volume, was therefore developed.

Data for this work came from a study which compared rumen liquor and faeces as sources of inoculum using the method of Theodorou et al. (1994). Six substrates (wheat straw, hay, soyabean meal, wheat starch, maize starch, and potato residue) were utilized. Gas pressure readings (observations = 1187) were measured using a hand-held pressure transducer with an LED readout. Interfaced to a computer using a Mini-Pod 300 (AD converter). MS-Visual Basic (Microsoft) was used to convert the mini-pod readings and automatically enter them into an Excel spreadsheet. Gas volume was measured using a syringe to remove the gas produced until the readout indicated zero.

Type
Programme
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 1998 , 1998 , pp. 70
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 1998

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References

Theodorou, M.K., Williams, B.A., Dhanoa, M.S., McAllan, A.B. and France, J. 1994. A simple gas production method using a pressure transducer to determine the fermentation kinetics of ruminant feeds. Animal Feed Science and Technology 48:185–197.10.1016/0377-8401(94)90171-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
France, J., Dhanoa, M.S., Theodorou, M.K., Lister, S.J., Davies, S.J. and Isaac, D. 1993. A model to interpret gas accumulation profiles with in vitro degradation of ruminant feeds. Journal of Theoretical Biology 163:99–111.10.1006/jtbi.1993.1109CrossRefGoogle Scholar