Eggshell as a source of calcium in the production, nutrition and bromatological composition of 'Piatã' and 'Marandu' grasses

Abstract

The demand for environmentally sustainable agricultural production systems encouraged this study, which evaluated the productive aspects and nutritional status of 'Piatã' palisadegrass and productive aspects and bromatological composition of 'Marandu' palisadegrass fertilized with eggshell, replacing other sources of calcium. 'Piatã' palisadegrass was grown in the field, in a randomized block design, and 'Marandu' palisadegrass in pots, in a completely randomized design, both with eggshell doses equivalent to 0, 78, 156, 234, 312 and 390 kg ha-1 of total calcium, using four replicates. The productive aspects of 'Piatã' and 'Marandu' grasses were not significantly altered by the eggshell doses, as well as the contents and accumulations of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, B, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn in the 'Piatã' palisadegrass and dry mass, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, hemicellulose, crude protein, digestible energy, metabolizable energy and the apparent digestibility of dry mass in the 'Marandu' palisadegrass. As a source of calcium, eggshell did not increase the mass production of the forages and did not promote improvements in the nutritional status of 'Piatã' palisadegrass and bromatological composition of 'Marandu' palisadegrass.

Chemical attributes of soils with eggshell application

“…In agriculture, Magalhães et al (2011) found that the application of eggshell increased the pH of two soils with different clay contents. Silveira et al (2016) found that the use of eggshell as a source of Ca 2+ , in doses equivalent to up to 390 kg ha -1 Ca 2+ , did not increase the dry matter yield of shoots of the Piatã and Marandu forage grasses, moreover, it did neither alter the nutrient contents in the shoots of the Piatã grass, nor the bromatological composition of the Marandu grass. However, there is a need for more information on the effects of eggshell on soil and plants.…”

“…Considering that the shell comprises about 10% of the whole egg (King'ori, 2011), and that in Brazil, more than 8.5 billion eggs are produced annually (Silveira et al, 2016), it is observed that large quantities of this residue are generated in the country.…”

Multi-Class Procedure for Analysis of 50 Antibacterial Compounds in Eggshells Using Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

“…Another way to reuse biowaste such as eggshells is to use them as crop fertilizer. They provide a very good natural source of calcium, which helps some plants grow in calcium-deficient soil, and they balance the soil pH [ 3 , 4 , 13 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Eggshells are a natural biomaterial, so they have found practical applications in various fields of medicine.…”

Evaluation of Eggshell as Organic Fertilizer on Sweet Basil

“…Crushed eggshell can be also put in composting bin to form compost. By using crushed eggshell fertilizer, the calcium content in soil can be increased alongside other nutrients contained in eggshell (Taylor and Locascio, 2004;Silveira et al, 2016;Faridi and Arabhosseini, 2018). The advantage of using crushed eggshell is less energy needed for preparation, but the disadvantage relies on the time needed for eggshell degradation before it can provide nutrients for plants (Mitchell, 2005;Rai et al, 2014).…”