VPB 121: Veterinary Physiology - II (2+1)

PROCEDURE - VFA ESTIMATION

• It consists of two steps. There are
  • Preparation of Strain Rumen Liquor ( SRL )
  • Estimation of Volatile Fatty Acids

Preparation of Strain Rumen Liquor ( SRL )

• Collect about 200 ml of rumen liquor from the fistulated animal.
• Strain the rumen liquor (SRL) using four layered cheese cloth and centrifuge at 1000 RPM for 5 minutes.
• Arrest the bacterial activity of the rumen liquor by adding saturated solution of mercuric chloride @ the ratio of 1:20.
• Store the solution in the refrigerator at 4°C until further use.

Estimation of  Volatile Fatty Acids

• Take 2 ml of SRL and 1 ml of liquid paraffin containing 2% octyl alcohol in the micro Kjeldhal apparatus.
• Add 2 ml of Scarisbrick Buffer (1 ml each of 10% Potassium oxalate solution and 5% Oxalic acid).
• Take 25 ml of distilled water in a conical flask and keep the tip of the glass collection tube deeply into the distilled water.
• Collect about 150 ml of the distillate in the conical flask.
• Titrate the distillate against 0.01 NaOH using Phenolphthalein as indicator.
• Titrate the blank as above using 2 ml distilled water instead of SRL. Subtract the value of the blank from the sample.