Replacement of corn by babassu mesocarp bran in diets for feedlot young bulls

Fabrícia Rocha Chaves Miotto,João Restle,Kélvia Jácome De Castro,Luciano Fernandes Sousa,Jean Pacheco Leão,José Neuman Miranda Neiva,Rafael De Oliveira Da Silva,Beatriz Barroso De Freitas

doi:10.1590/s1516-35982013000300009

Abstract

Nutrient intake and digestibility and productive performance of 30 feedlot young bulls fed diets containing babassu mesocarp bran in replacement of corn were evaluated. Animals were distributed in a completely randomized design with five levels of replacement of corn by babassu mesocarp bran (BMB): 0, 250, 500, 750 and 1000 g/kg of dry matter, and six replications. The dry matter (DM) intake in kg/day, g/kg body weight (BW) and g/kgBW0.75 increased as the corn was replaced by BMB. The intake of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and crude protein (CP) increased linearly, whereas the intake of non-fibrous carbohydrates (NFC) had quadratic behavior. The digestibility of DM, CP, NDF and NFC and the total digestible nutrients (TDN) showed quadratic behavior with points of minimum digestibility of 850.0, 638.0, 867.0, 638.0 and 833.0 g/kg dry matter of replacement of corn by BMB, respectively. The final weight (476.82 kg) and average daily gain (1.55 kg/day) were not affected by experimental diets. The feed efficiencies of DM and CP decreased with increase in the levels of BMB, but the feed efficiency of TDN was not changed. Babassu mesocarp bran enables satisfactory performance, and depending on the price and opportunity cost, it can be utilized in the feeding of feedlot cattle totally replacing the corn of the diet.

Highlights

Babassu is a palm tree of the genus Orbignya with extensive occurrence in the Brazilian territory and in several soil types, together or alternating with vegetation types such as forest, savanna, shrubbery, grassland and crops (Albuquerque, 2006)
The dry matter (DM) intake in kg/day, g/kg body weight (BW) and g/kgBW0.75 increased as the corn was replaced by babassu mesocarp bran (BMB)
The DM intake increased linearly (P

Summary

Introduction

Babassu is a palm tree of the genus Orbignya with extensive occurrence in the Brazilian territory and in several soil types, together or alternating with vegetation types such as forest, savanna, shrubbery, grassland and crops (Albuquerque, 2006). The availability and nutritive potential, babassu mesocarp bran has shown to be an alternative for use in diets for cattle (Silva, 2008). Alternatives aiming at reduction in the costs of these components would have a more evident result in the increase of profitability of the feedlot (Pacheco et al, 2006). In this sense, the use of regional by-products as feeding for livestock shows potential to reduce the costs with the diets. Neiva et al (2005) state that farmers should seek the use of alternative feedstuffs aiming at reduction of production costs provided they do not impair animal performance The study of the use of such feedstuffs is important for proving both the economic and biological viability. Neiva et al (2005) state that farmers should seek the use of alternative feedstuffs aiming at reduction of production costs provided they do not impair animal performance

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Results