Abstract
The study was undertaken to determine the effects of ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) 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 NH4OH kg-1 residue dry matter (DM) (T50), 100 g NH4OH kg-1 DM (T100), and untreated control (neither water nor NH4OH) (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 NH4OH treatment from 529 g kg-1 to 651 g kg-1 in T50 and T100. The improvement in IVDMD may indicate that NH4OH 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.
Highlights
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), is a warm season grass that does well in a variety of soils and withstands hot and dry conditions
The study was undertaken to determine the effects of ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) treatment of sorghum stover residue on composition and in vitro dry matter disappearance (IVDMD) of two sorghum varieties, Dale and Brown mid rib (BMR) (Short, grain sorghum variety)
The fiber content (ADF and neutral detergent fiber (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
Summary
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), is a warm season grass that does well in a variety of soils and withstands hot and dry conditions. As a forage crop, most interest in sorghum has been concentrated on hybrid varieties, brown midrib genotypes, and sorghum-sudangrass (Houx III et al, 2013) This variety has distinct morphological characteristics including extensive root system, smaller leaf area with a waxy coating that limits water loss; it is the most widely adapted species among grasses for biomass and fuel production (Hons et al, 1986). The sweet sorghum varieties have been bred primarily for syrup production Because of their high sugar content and large biomass yield, sweet sorghums have attracted the attention of researchers who have evaluated them as biofuel crops (Smith et al, 1987; Putnam et al, 1991; Rooney et al, 2007). In the US, out of a total of 3.2 million hectares under sorghum in 2013, 2.6 million hectares were harvested for grain (USDA, 2014)
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