Nutritive characterization of Musa spp and its effects on in vitro Rumen fermentation characteristics
University of the Azores, FCAA, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Research and Technology, Rua Capitão João d’Ávila, 9700-042 Angra do Heroísmo, Açores, Portugal
*Correspondence: sofia.mp.teixeira@uac.pt
Abstract:
This research aims to study the effect of nutritive value of Musa spp on animal feed. Residues of banana culture, leaves and stems, could be used as a fibre source for animal feeding, especially in Banana producing areas, such as Macaronesia Archipelagos, avoiding wastes and supplementing periods of scarcity of food.
Musa spp were collected and dried at 65 °C in an oven with controlled air circulation. The pseudostems were divided in three different portions and chemical composition, in vitro digestibility, and in vitro gas production were determined. Regarding dry matter results, they were low (16.54% in leaves and 6.54% DM% in pseudostem), crude protein raging 11.25 DM% in leaves and 7.25% in pseudostem. Concerning fiber values, NDF is higher in leaves (70.07 DM%) than in pseudostems (52.11 DM%) and ADL is higher in leaves (9.90 DM%) comparing with pseudostems (6.21 DM%). In vitro DM digestibility is low, (24.42% in leaves and 42.69% in pseudostem), corroborating the NDF values. Cumulative gas production was recorded at 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h of incubation. The results showed that the gas production in leaves was lower (11.36 mL 200 mg˗1 DM) when compared to pseudostem (23.81 mL 200 mg˗1 DM), being so in accordance with the digestibility results.
The current study suggested that this by-product can be used in animal feed, however, it will be necessary to carry out tests to improve its nutritional value, namely with NaOH and/or with Urea, being a promising strategy for improving ruminant feed efficiency.
Key words:
animal science, gas production, in vitro digestibility, Musa spp, ruminants