Effects of Treatment of Sorghum Stover Residue With Ammonium Hydroxide on Cell Wall Composition and in vitro Digestibility

摘要

The study was undertaken to determine the effects of ammonium hydroxide (NH 4 OH) treatment of sorghum stover residue on composition and in vitro dry matter disappearance (IVDMD) of two sorghum varieties, Dale (tall, sweet sorghum variety) and Brown mid rib (BMR) (Short, grain sorghum variety). The residue was treated with; water only (T00), 50 g NH 4 OH kg -1 residue dry matter (DM) (T50), 100 g NH 4 OH kg -1 DM (T100), and untreated control (neither water nor NH 4 OH) (TUN) and allowed to react for one week before chemical analysis was performed. The fiber content (ADF and NDF) were not affected by the levels of alkali treatment but the crude protein (CP) and Soluble protein contents were both increased by alkali treatment. There was an increase ( P < 0.05) in dry matter digestibility in vitro (IVDMD) by NH 4 OH treatment from 529 g kg -1 to 651 g kg -1 in T50 and T100. The improvement in IVDMD may indicate that NH 4 OH helps disrupt the lignin–carbohydrate complexes. The development of more economical and safe procedures which improve digestibility of the structural cell wall components would be very beneficial for improving the use of crop residue as feedstock for livestock and bioethanol production.