Abstract:
The study objective was to investigate the effect of chemical
treatments on the nutritive value of sugar cane bagasse (SCB) as ruminants
feed and compare it with the untreated SCB(USCB).SCB was treated with
sodium hydroxide (SCBNa) at 4% and calcium oxide (SCBCa) at 8%.The
nutritive value of the treated SCB and the USCB was assessed by comparing
their chemical composition, gas production characteristics , in vitro dry
matter digestibility and organic matter digestibility.The standard analytical
methods were used . Both NaOH and CaO treatments caused significant
reductions (P<0.01) in crude fiber ,neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent
fiber, acid detergent lignin, hemicellulose content of SCB and a significant
increase in its cellulose content .
Both chemical treatments caused significantly (P≤0.01) decrease in
the gas production from the immediately soluble fraction (a) and
Significantly(P≤0.01) increase gas production from the insoluble fraction
(b) compared with the untreated bagasse .In vitro dry matter digestibility
was increased (P≤0.01) from 42.56% in USCB to 65.72% and 68.33% in
SCBNa and SCBCa respectively. Organic matter digestibility was increased
from 22.44% in USCB to 47.13% and 29.82% with SCBNa and SCBCa
respectively.
It is concluded that alkali treatments improved In vitro dry matter
digestibility and organic matter digestibility of sugar cane bagasse through
changes in its chemical composition.
Key words: Sugar cane bagasse, Alkali treatment, Ruminants feed
