Increasing the Quality of Agricultural and Plantation Residues using Combination of Fiber Cracking Technology and Urea for Ruminant Feeds

Abstract

This experiment aimed to evaluate the decrease of the fiber fraction of some agricultural and plantation residues after being treated with Fiber Cracking Technology (FCT) and urea. The residues included rice straw, oil palm frond (OPF), oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB), cocoa pod and coffee husk. They were added with 5% urea and incubated in FCT at temperature 135 o C and pressure 2.3 atm for 2.5 h. The experimental treatments were arranged as a factorial design 5 × 2, in which the first factor was various agricultural and plantation residues (rice straw, OPF, OPEFB, cocoa pod and coffee husk) and the second factor was FCT application (untreated and treated with FCT + 5% urea), performed in 4 replicates. All treatments were subjected to Van Soest analysis and in vitro digestibility test. The decrease of fiber fraction was confirmed with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) methods. Results showed that FCT + 5% urea treatment decreased NDF, ADF, cellulose and lignin contents of all samples (P<0.05), and increased IVDMD and IVOMD in comparison to untreated samples (P<0.05). However, the treatment did not alter in vitro methane gas production and VFA profiles of the samples. Analyses using SEM, XRD and FTIR revealed that FCT + 5% urea treatment demolished cell wall component, decreased crystallinity index and cleaved fiber bonds. It was concluded that combination between FCT and urea 5% effectively enhances the quality of some fibrous feed materials.

In Vitro Nutrient Digestibility and Ruminal Fermentation Characteristics of Ammoniated and Fermented Treatment of Soaked and Unsoaked Cymbopogon nardus Waste

“…It can be understood that the fiber fraction in the experimental diets were not slightly different. This study has the same pattern with Dewi et al (2018) who found insignificant effect on total VFA concentration of several agricultural waste treated with the combination of high temperature, high pressure, and urea treatment. They assumed that the insignificant total VFA was related to the insignificant methane gas production in that study since the methane value is obtained from stoichiometrically estimate from the profile of acetate, propionate, and butyrate concentration.…”

Effects of urea‐treated oil palm frond on nutrient composition and in vitro rumen fermentation using goat rumen fluid

“…This increased digestibility of feed materials was also observed in a previous study using oil palm empty fruit bunch, in which digestibility increased with the increasing level of urea application (Jayanegara et al, 2019). In another study, Dewi et al (2018) revealed that the combination of fibre cracking technology with 5% urea decreased the NDF, ADF, lignin and cellulose contents and increased in vitro DM and OM digestibility of OPF. An increment in in vitro DMD of urea‐treated OPF may lead to increased feed digestibility in vivo .…”

Evaluation of Pre-ingestive Citronella Residues using Ruminal In Vitro Techniques

“…The VFA concentration in the feed ration containing pre-ingestive CR was slightly different to other treated tropical agricultural byproducts. Dewi et al [28] reported that ammoniated cocoa pods and coffee husks (5 % urea) using fiber cracking technology (135 °C; 2.3 atm) for 2.5 h had a molar VFA production rate of 39 -44 mM. The molar percentages of acetic acid and n-butyric acid from the current experiment were higher than those of Bureenok et al [29], who used Pennisetum silage (without additives), whereas the propionic acid concentration was slightly lower.…”