Effects of Supplementing Microbially-fermented Spent Mushroom Substrates on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Hanwoo Steers (a Field Study)

This study evaluated the effect of dietary supplementation of microbially-fermented spent mushroom substrates (MFSMS) on weight gain, carcass characteristics, and economic efficiency of Hanwoo steers. Highly cellulolytic bacteria (Enterobacter spp. and Bacillus spp.) isolated from spent mushroom substrates (SMS) stacks were inoculated (1% v/v) into the SMS, which was anaerobically fermented and fed to the steers for 12.6 months during the growing and fattening periods. Growing Hanwoo steers were assigned to the control group without supplementation of Microbially-fermented SMS (MFSMS), to a treatment group with 50% of MFSMS (1/2 of the ad libitum group), and to a treatment group with ad libitum access to SMS (the ad libitum group). All the groups were fed the formulated feed and rice straw. The voluntary intake (DM basis) of MFSMS was 1.6 kg/d during the growing period and 1.4 kg/d during the fattening period. The voluntary rice straw intake decreased by 6 to 11%, but the total voluntary DMI increased by 7 to 15% with MFSMS fed. The increased DMI with MFSMS supplementation resulted in a tendency of increased (p = 0.055) live weight gain by 8 to 12% compared with the control group. At slaughtering, the supplementation of MFSMS increased (p<0.05) the ribeye area by an average of 10 cm(2). In conclusion, feeding MFSMS improved growth performance and carcass traits of Hanwoo steers and could successfully replace a part of conventional roughage such as rice straw commonly used in Asian countries.