The effects of including increasing levels of palm oil on the in situ ruminal degradability parameters of nutrients, dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (FDA) of elephant grass silage, and the apparent digestibility of DM, OM, CP, NDF, ADF, and ethereal extract (EE) in experimental ovine diets were studied. The following treatments were tested: including palm oil at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 g/kg DM of the total diet. The diets were made up of elephant grass silage and concentrate based on corn, soy meal, and mineral mix. The palm oil was mixed to the concentrate to facilitate its distribution, with a 1:1 roughage:concentrate ratio maintained with formulations that were isoproteic and isofibrous, but not isoenergetic, offered at a ratio of 1.5% of the live weight (restricted intake). No significant (P>0.05) similarities were found in the ruminal degradation variables assessed with the inclusion of up to 75 g oil/kg DM. The apparent digestibility of organic matter suffered a linear reduction, an effect contrary to what was observed for EE, whose apparent digestibility showed a linear increase. The digestibility of the other nutrients was not impacted by including palm oil in the diet, which suggests this lipid source can be used at levels above the recommendations for including free fat in ruminant diets.
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