EN
This experiment evaluated the effects of the inoculation of lignocellulosic biomass from wheat straw (LBWS) and date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) leaf (LBDL) with bacteria (Bacillus licheniformis, Ochrobactrum intermedium and Microbacterium paludicola) with lignocellulose-degrading potential isolated from termite gut on the nutritive value of these substrates. Inoculation with B. licheniformis and M. paludicola had a significant effect on chemical composition (organic matter, crude protein and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) contents) of LBWS whereas for LBDL bacterial treatments only tended to affect protein and NDF contents. LBWS inoculated with B. licheniformis and M. paludicola promoted a lower in vitro gas production from soluble fractions, while all bacterial treatments lowered gas production from insoluble but fermentable fractions of LBDL. Bacterial treatments differently affected the nutritive value of LBWS and LBDL – the effects were more marked for LBWS and with the inoculation with B. licheniformis and M. paludicola. None of the bacteria degraded lignin after three weeks of inoculation. More research is needed to evaluate longer bacterial treatments and different bacterial strains.