The influence of steam treated sugarcane pith on digestibility, rumen passage rate and fermentation of Iranian Baluchi sheep

Figures & data

Table 1. Ingredients and chemical composition of experimental diets.

Ingredients	STP (g/kg DM of diet)
	0	40	80	120
Alfalfa hay	300	300	300	300
Barley straw	200	200	200	200
Wheat bran	120	80	40	–
STP	–	40	80	120
Barely grain	360	350.8	350.6	350.4
Limestone	7	7	7	7
Salt	3	3	3	3
Min. and Vit.	10	10	10	10
Urea	–	0.2	0.4	0.6
Total	1000	1000	1000	1000
Chemical composition (g/kg DM)
ME (Mcal/kg DM)	2.34	2.30	2.26	2.23
NDF	414	417	424.1	430.42
ADF	262	276.5	292.15	307.74
EE	24.44	23.30	22.33	24.44
CP	113.90	105.20	100.70	94.05
Ash	62.65	63.80	65	63.80
Calcium	5.80	5.73	5.69	5.60
Phosphorus	3.53	3.01	2.5	1.98
Note: STP, Steam treated pith; Min. and Vit., Minerals and vitamins mixture.

Table 2. Intake and digestibility of nutrients in Baluci sheep fed diet containing steam treated sugarcane pith.

	STP (g/kg DM of diet)
	0	40	80	120	SEM	Effect
Intake (g/d)
DM	831.37	823.37	80.57	839.83	11.83	NS
OM	775.50	769.52	801.88	780.20	15.61	NS
Ash	53.86a	53.85a	58.69b	59.63b	1.13	L*
NDF	355.85a	358.42	368.65	377.90	7.35	NS
ADF	227.04a	240.90a	265.70b	274.20b	3.62	L*
CP	111.36a	105.25ab	103.41b	95.08c	1.43	L*
EE	20.97a	19.80ab	19.46b	17.88c	0.27	L*
Fecal nutrient output (g/d)
DM	332.29	323	334.29	309.63	6.48	NS
NDF	176.79a	164.71a	165.95a	147.92b	4.76	L*
ADF	129.75	128.27	133.38	118.18	3.88	NS
CP	35.82	36.59	36.04	35.31	0.56	NS
EE	4.95	5.15	4.93	4.21	0.33	NS
Nutrient digestibility (g/kg)
DM	600.1	604.4	605.9	629.7	6.90	NS
OM	696.5	700.3	714.1	740.3	4.90	NS
NDF	507a	540.1b	563.7b	608.8c	6.90	L*
ADF	429.9a	467ab	497.8b	568.9c	11	L*
CP	677.8	649	651.3	628.3	10.10	NS
EE	764.8	737.1	746.6	763.5	14.10	NS
Note: STP, Steam treated pith, Least squares means. L:,Linear effect; NS, Not significant; and *P < 0.05.
Intake, output, and digestibility determined during feed sampling and fecal collection periods.

Figure 1.  Mean concentration (log scale) of marker in the rumen liquor (▪) and abomasal liquor (▴) of four sheep during continuous infusion of marker (Figure 1a) (0–96 h) and after the infusion was terminated (Figure 1b).

Table 3. Estimating digestibility of nutrients in rumen of sheep fed STP.

	STP (g/kg DM of diet)
	0	40	80	120	SEM	Effect
Digestibility (g/kg)
DM	469.9b	535.4ab	563.3ba	594.1a	25.40	L*
OM	696.2	702.4	719.8	741.4	4.99	NS
NDF	649.3b	657.8b	715.1a	726.8a	25.80	L*
ADF	579.7b	632.9ab	689.9a	698.8a	27.30	L*
CP	481.7b	560.3a	588.3a	624.4a	24.70	L*
EE	568.7c	648.4b	683.6ab	749.6a	19.70	L*
Note: STP, Steam treated pith, Least squares means. L, Linear effect; NS, Not significant; and *P < 0.05.

Table 4. Ruminal metabolites and digestion kinetics of Baluchi sheep fed diets containing STP.

Items	STP (g/kg DM of diet)
	0	40	80	120	SEM	Effect
PH	6.42	6.44	6.57	6.62		NS
NH3 (mg/dl)	11.71	13.20	13.14	14.12		NS
Rumen kinetic
Ruminal fluid dilution rate (%/h)	8.53a	7.66b	7.42b	7.09b	0.22	L*
Ruminal fluid volume (L)	5.45	5.21	5.035	4.05	0.94	NS
Turnover time (h)	11.97b	13.14a	13.53a	14.17a	0.34	L*
Ruminal outflow rate (L/h)	0.47a	0.397ab	0.374b	0.36b	0.03	L*
Mean retention time (h)	12.39b	13.19ab	13.50a	14.03a	0.40	L*
Marker pool (mg)^a	445.58	425.11	397.79	375.81	32.80	NS
Note: STP, Steam treated pith, Least squares means. L, Linear effect; NS, non significant; *P < 0.05.
^aQuantity of marker present in rumen (Weston and Hogan, 1967).

Table 5. Effect of diet containing STP on abomasum measures.

	STP (g/kg DM of diet)
	0	40	80	120	SEM	Effect
Nutrients (g/kg DM)
DM	49.8a	46.9ab	44.3bc	41.9c	1.46	L*
NDF	283.3	288.7	290	300	11.40	NS
NDF/NDFI	0.80	0.80	0.79	0.79	0.01	NS
ADF	216.6	220	230	243.3	9.90	NS
ADF/ADFI	0.95	0.91	0.87	0.90	0.05	NS
CP	131.1a	121.4ab	112.9bc	107.6c	3.42	L*
NH3-N (mg/dl)	17.22a	16.73ab	16.31ab	15.71b	0.59	L*
Note: STP, Steam treated pith, Least squares means. L, Linear effect; NS, Not significant; and *P < 0.05.

Table 6. The comparative chemical composition of STP and wheat bran.

	Feed
Items (g/kg DM)	STP	Wheat bran	SEM	P
NDF	550a	412b	8.80	*
ADF	505a	143b	33.32	*
CP	23b	181a	6.60	*
Ash	110a	61b	17.6	*
Lignin (sa)	60a	30b	6.70	*
CL	445a	113b	10.40	*
HCL	45b	260a	9.40	*
CL/HCL	0.1b	2.3a	0.09	*
Note: STP, Steam treated pith; CL, cellulose; HCL, Hemicellulose; NS, Not significant; and *P < 0.05.

Weston , RH and Hogan , JP . 1967 . The digestion of chopped and ground roughages by sheep. I. The movement of digesta through the stomach . Australian Journal of Agricultural Research , 18 : 789 – 801 .

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