Effect of ozone and sodium hydroxide treatments on the degradability of cotton straw monosaccharides by rumen microorganisms

Abstract

Cotton straw (CS) was treated with ozone and sodium hydroxide and the effect of the treatments on the in vitro digestibility of monosaccharides in the whole material and in cell walls was studied. The digestibility of the major components — glucose and xylose in the untreated whole material was low, 26.3 and 14.3%, respectively, whereas that of the minor components was high, in the range of 60–70%. Ozonation resulted in an increase in digestibility of most of the sugars, with a particular effect on glucose and xylose, the digestibility of which was raised to 72 and 67%, respectively. Sodium hydroxide exerted a modest effect, increasing the in vitro digestibility values for glucose to 35.7% and for xylose to 32.3%.