This study was conducted to determine the chemical composition and estimation of nutritive value of ensiled and dried pomegranate peel using in vitro gas production technique. The experimental samples were incubated in vitro with rumen liquor taken from three fistulated Iranian native (Taleshi) steers at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, 36, 48, 72 and 96 h. The results showed that although there is significant differences between gas production volume of dried and ensiled samples at early incubation times (2, 4, 6 and 8 h), the significant differences was not observed at further incubation times. The gas volume at 24 h incubation, were 45.71 and 45.17 ml/200mg DM for dried and ensiled pomegranate peels, respectively. The organic matter digestibility (OMD), metabolizable energy (ME), net energy for lactation (NEL) and short chain fatty acid (SCFA) of both treatments were similar (57.29%, 8.61 MJ/kg DM, 4.67 MJ/kg DM, 1.03 mmol for dried samples and 57.18%, 8.58 MJ/kg DM, 4.83 MJ/kg DM, 1.02 mmol for ensiled samples, respectively). In conclusion, it can be suggest that both preservation methods (drying and ensiling) have similar effect on nutritive value of pomegranate peel for ruminants.
