Use Of Distillation Research Articles

Three-Stage Solid-State Fermentation Technology for Distillers’ Grain Feed Protein Based on Different Microorganisms Considering Oxygen Requirements

The shortage of feed protein has plagued the development of the animal husbandry industry in China. In this study, a new three-stage fermentation technology for producing distillers’ grain feed protein was developed by introducing Aspergillus niger, yeast, and lactic acid bacteria. During the aerobic stage, there was a negative correlation between the reducing sugar content in the distillers’ grains and the amount of Aspergillus niger. The maximum reducing sugar concentration (36.89 mg g−1) was obtained when the oxygen supply was 30 mL min−1 and the fermentation time was two days. During the microaerophilic stage, the natural exchange of oxygen achieved optimal true protein enhancement (from 10.8% to 16.4%) among the three oxygen supply modes (natural exchange, forced ventilation, and filling supplement). During the anaerobic stage, lactic acid bacteria were inoculated for feed protein preservation and flavor enhancement. Our results provided insight and practical guidance for the high-value use of distillers’ grains.

Enhancing methane production from distillers’ grains by cattle manure in solid-state anaerobic digestion: Focusing on biodegradability, acidification and indigenous microorganisms

Distillers’ grains has high potential in methane production but the process is affected by the acidification in anaerobic digestion. To enhance the methane production in solid-state anaerobic digestion, distillers’ grains was co-digested with cattle manure in different proportions in this study. Compared to distillers’ grains, cattle manure performed lower biodegradability but higher alkalinity and nutrients, hence relieved acidification and drove microbial succession for methane enhancement in the co-digestion with distillers’ grains. The highest increase in total methane yield (10.67 %) was observed in the co-digestion of distillers’ grains and cattle manure at the proportion of 70:30 (T3). This was the synergistic action of reduced acidification, relatively high biodegradability of feedstocks, and balanced composition of hydrolytic bacteria, syntrophic bacteria and acetoclastic methanogens. Further analysis revealed the positive effects of indigenous microorganisms derived from distillers’ grains and cattle manure in methane enhancement. The enrichment of Sedimentibacter, Desulfitibacter, Tepidanaerobacter from distiller's grains, and Eubacterium, Methanoculleus, Methanobacterium, Methanobrevibacter mainly from cattle manure synergistically promoted organics conversion and methane production in T3. This study further affirmed the potential use of distillers’ grains in solid-state anaerobic digestion and provided a favorable strategy for its better methane production.

164 Impact of varying dietary inclusion of modified distiller’s grains plus solubles weekly compared with constant inclusion on feedlot cattle performance and carcass characteristics

Abstract The use of distiller’s grains in feedlot diets was abundant due to supply and price, but the availability to feedlots and greater prices of distiller’s grains has led to reduced inclusion and more variation in supply, and thus, inclusion within the feeding period for cattle. The hypothesis was that varying inclusion of modified wet distiller’s grains plus solubles (MDGS) in the diet would negatively impact cattle performance due to changing dietary starch concentration and risk of acidosis. One solution to help with ruminal acidosis concerns with variable MDGS inclusion would be increasing roughage inclusion. Therefore, our objective was to evaluate if varying the inclusion of MDGS at normal and 2X normal roughage inclusion influences performance of finishing cattle. In this study, crossbred steers (n = 576) with an initial body weight (BW) = 379 kg (SD= 11 kg) were evaluated for performance and carcass traits over the 143 d on study. Two inclusions of grass hay (6% and 12%) and three treatments related to MDGS (no inclusion, constant inclusion at 25% MDGS, and varying inclusion between 15 and 35% MDGS) were tested in a 2 × 3 factorial. Variable inclusion was accomplished by randomly selecting inclusions of 15, 20, 25, 30, or 35% each week with inclusion averaging 25% over the entire feeding period. There was no interaction between grass hay inclusion and MDGS inclusion (P ≥ 0.67) for performance data except a tendency (P = 0.09) for a gain to feed (G:F) interaction. In treatments fed 12% hay, G:F increased for cattle fed either MDGS inclusion (25% constant or varying inclusion) compared with 0% MDGS. In cattle fed 6% hay, G:F was similar between 0, 25 constant or variable 25% MDGS treatments. There was not an interaction due to a different response of variable versus constant inclusion of MDGS when more hay was included, as hypothesized. The 25% constant MDGS and 25% variable MDGS treatments did not differ (P ≥ 0.22) in average daily gain (ADG), hot carcass weight, or G:F. There was a tendency for cattle fed varying inclusion of MDGS to eat less (P = 0.10), but this difference was small (0.1 kg/d). In general, cattle fed MDGS (constant or varying) had greater dry matter intake and ADG, with greater fatness and marbling compared with cattle fed without MDGS (P ≤ 0.01). As for the degree of liver abscess severity, there was no interaction between treatments. Our results show that although varying supply of MDGS in diets is not recommended or desired, if it occurs and inclusions vary from 15 to 35%, these weekly adjustments did not negatively affect gain or feed efficiency in this study.

Evaluation of distiller's dried grains with solubles in diets for Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, reared under pond conditions

AbstractMost studies evaluating the use of distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) to partially replace the use of soybean meal (SBM) in diets of shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei have been carried out under laboratory conditions, which has significant differences in terms of environmental and culture conditions with the out‐door commercial pond. This study aims to extrapolate the laboratory trials into the out‐door pond condition in order to evaluate the feasibility of incorporating DDGS at various levels (D0 (0%), D5 (5%), D10 (10%), and D 15 (15%)) to replace the use of SBM for 90‐day culture period on the growth, body composition, total hemocyte count, lysozyme activity, and organoleptic characteristics of the shrimp. Seven hundred twenty shrimp (mean initial weight 1.06 ± 0.01 g) were randomly distributed into each of 40 net pens (3 × 2 × 1 per net pen) with 10 replicates per dietary treatment. The results showed an enhancement in biomass, mean weight, and thermal growth coefficient of shrimp fed with 5 and 10% inclusion levels of DDGS. Significant reduction of FCR was also observed with the use of 5 and 10% DDGS to partially replace SBM. There were no severe changes in the total hemocyte count (THC), lysozyme activity, color, aroma, and flavor of the shrimp. However, the texture of shrimp was significantly better with the use of 10 and 15% DDGS in the diet. In summary, regarding all the factors, DDGS is a promising alternative ingredient to replace the use of SBM with 5 and 10% inclusion levels and could modulate better growth, quality, and maintain the health condition of shrimp cultured in out‐door pond conditions.

Use of Distiller´s Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) from corn or wheat in broiler diets

The production of grain-based bioethanol is increasing due to the rising demand for biofuels and the global decline in fossil fuel sources. Distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) from corn or wheat are the main by-product of bioethanol fermentation, primarily through dry milling technology, and have been used as low-cost animal feed. With the increase in ethanol production from grains, the production of DDGS from corn or wheat also increases. Several studies have found that DDGS has high nutritional value but variable composition, and researchers have found ways to enhance its quality and safety. Various approaches have been proposed to improve the digestibility and nutritional value of DDGS. However, despite its high nutritional value, DDGS has not yet been fully studied and is less utilized in broiler feeding. The benefits and risks associated with the use of DDGS have been studied for a long time, but more research is needed to establish quality and safety standards for DDGS. This review aims to highlight the challenges of using DDGS in broiler chicken nutrition.

Thermal Disposal of Post-processing Water Derived from the Hydrothermal Carbonization Process of Sewage Sludge

Hydrothermal carbonization is a suitable method for sewage sludge management due to great improvements in its dewaterability and the successful application of its solid product, hydrochar, in different sectors. However, the resulting liquid product requires special treatment due to the amount of undesirable compounds it contains. The main purpose of this work is to study the use of distillation as a method of post-processing liquid purification. In addition, the influence of vacuum depth on the properties of liquid products was investigated. A number of chemical and physical parameters were determined to confirm the validity of this treatment method: TOC, COD, total nitrogen Kjeldahl content, ammonium nitrogen content, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, selected heavy metals content and phenol index. Distillation under atmospheric pressure caused reductions in the following parameters: COD, TOC, phenol index, heavy metals, chlorine by more than 90%: removal of 95% COD and TOC, 99.5% of PO4-P, 93% of Phenol, over 90% of heavy metals, and over 97% of free and total chlorine. In the case of distillation under -0.3 bar pressure, the following reductions were obtained: 97% of COD, 98% of TOC, 99.9% of PO4-P, 94% of Phenol, c.a. 98% of heavy metals, and more than 98% of free and total chlorine. Decreasing the pressure to − 0.5 bar did not producee any significant effects as the results were similar to distillation under atmospheric pressure. Both methods, distillation and distillation under lower pressures, can be used as an appropriate method of post-processing water utilization.Graphical

A Review on the Use of Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) in Aquaculture Feeds

Abstract Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) to replace fishmeal (FM) or other plant protein sources and its effects on an aquatic animal’s growth performance and health system is rarely discussed. In recent times FM use in aquafeed has been a problem for the aquaculture industry because of the depletion of fish resources in the ocean and the high cost of FM. For that reason, researchers are focusing on reducing the cost of aquafeed production by lowering the inclusion of FM in aquafeed. One of the low-cost alternative protein sources to replace FM is DDGS. The present review discusses the compilation of available literature review and other works on the use of DDGS to replace FM in aquafeed and how it improves the growth performance, immune health system, and disease resistance in an aquatic animal. It focuses on the production of DDGS, the nutritional composition of DDGS, the chemical and physical characteristics of DDGS, and the effects of the DDGS inclusion in aquafeed on the aquatic animal. Apart from improving the growth performance of the aquatic animal when included in aquafeed, it also helps improve the immune health system of the animal. It also helps boost the immune system of the aquatic animal to fight diseases and increase disease resistance when included in aquafeed. Furthermore, DDGS also contains some constituents like carotenoids that help improve the meat quality of the animal when included in aquafeed. The current review also discusses the management and use of technology to improve the aquaculture industry, educate farmers on reducing diseases during the culturing periods, and increase productivity and profit in a friendly environment.

Economic evaluation of the use of distillers dried grains with solubles in swine feeding

This study proposes to undertake an economic assessment of the inclusion of different levels of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) in diets for pigs in different production stages and categories (growing and finishing), namely: barrows fed diets containing 0 or 20% DDGS; and finishing barrows and sows fed diets containing 0, 10, 20, and 30% DDGS. A sensitivity analysis was performed on the price of corn in three simulated scenarios with different revenue systems: an optimistic scenario (lowest price); a regular scenario (medium price); and a pessimistic scenario (highest price). Inclusion of DDGS in the swine diet can reduce feeding costs and improve the profitability of production, about finishing males and females, the profit per kilogram of weight gain (US$/kg) were better in 10% of DDGS inclusion, 0.23, 0.28 respectively, but for growing and finishing, it was smaller in 20% (0.32 US$/kg) of DDGS inclusion than the 0% control treatment (0.33 US$/KG). The inclusion of DDGS must be carefully planned, since its use may depress animal performance and its inclusion is linked to the costs of the other ingredients that make up the diet.

Large-scale desalination based on parabolic trough collectors and double-effect absorption heat pumps

This paper focuses on an analysis of the current situation of distillation and reverse osmosis technologies and their relationship with renewable energies, to the extent that there is a strong trend in the use of distillation and reverse osmosis technologies. Large-scale seawater desalination using renewable energy is not developed, so a detailed study of the combination of renewable energy facilities, reverse osmosis, and distillation systems are needed to be effective and competitive compared to the use nonrenewable energy. Solar multiple is a very important parameter in the solar thermal industry. This is in the range of 1.5 – 3 and depends on the relationship between storage and plant power. This parameter is important because it reflects a balance between the cost of the parabolic trough collectors and the total of the solar thermal plant. If the same criterion is followed, with a thermal gap of 100 °C, chosen for the parabolic trough collectors sizing, the solar multiple in the system object of this article, has a value higher than 3. The proposed system employs renewable energies for reducing the downtime of the desalination plants, doing possible that the desalination plants being competitive in sites with poor quality solar radiation.

The Influence of Raw Materials Area, Methods and Distillation Time of Aceh Patchouli Oil

Patchouli oil is the result of distillation from patchouli plants. It used as a mixture and fragrance binder in the perfume, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. But the constraints in the patchouli oil refining industry are still produced the low yields. The factors that influence the yield of patchouli oil include the use of seeds, how to handle raw materials (knitting, withering and drying), refining process, the time of distillation, and the use of distillers. The purpose of this research is to get high yield of patchouli oil to increase the selling value. Which is variable sources of raw materials, and the length of distillation time obtained the highest yield of patchouli oil about 2.09% with distillation time of 5 hours.

Effects of supplemental fat concentration on feeding logistics, animal performance, and nutrient losses of heifers fed finishing diets based on steam-flaked corn and sorghum-based distiller's grains.

The use of distiller's grains (DG) in beef cattle finishing diets is a common practice. However, the effects of supplemental fat on performance and nutrient losses of cattle fed diets containing DG are not known. Therefore, we fed 398 crossbred yearling heifers (initial BW = 373.5 kg) for 106 d to determine the effects of dietary fat concentration and sorghum-based wet distiller's grains with solubles (SWDGS) on performance, carcass characteristics, and nutrient losses of finishing cattle. Treatments included two 92% concentrate, steam-flaked corn (SFC)-based diets with 0% or 3% added fat from yellow grease and 3 SFC-based diets with 15% SWDGS (DM basis) that contained either 0%, 1.5%, or 3% added fat (8 pens per treatment) in a randomized block design. Overall DMI and ADG were 5% to 6% greater (P < 0.01) for heifers fed 15% SWDGS than for those fed 0% SWDGS. Among heifers fed 15% SWDGS, DMI was greatest (P = 0.04; quadratic effect) and ADG tended (P = 0.12; quadratic effect) to be greatest for heifers fed 1.5% fat. The ADG:DMI did not differ between 0% SWDGS with 0% or 3% fat, and was not altered by replacing a portion of SFC with SWDGS (P > 0.36). However, ADG:DMI tended to increase as more fat was added to diets with 15% SWDGS (P = 0.06). Average hot carcass weight (HCW) was 5 kg greater (P = 0.05) when SWDGS was fed, but HCW tended to be greatest for heifers fed 15% SWDGS with 1.5% fat (P = 0.09, quadratic effect). Heifers fed 0% SWDGS with 0% fat tended to have a lower marbling score, less rib fat, lower average yield grade (P < 0.08), and more (P < 0.01) yield grade 1 carcasses than heifers fed 0% SWDGS with 3% fat. Averaged across fat levels, heifers fed 15% SWDGS had more rib fat and a higher yield grade (P < 0.03) than heifers fed 0% SWDGS. Feeding 15% SWDGS did not alter carcass quality grade distribution compared to feeding 0% SWDGS, but 15% SWDGS produced fewer yield grade 3 carcasses (P = 0.03) than 0% SWDGS. The calculated NEg of SWDGS (1.36 Mcal/kg) was 91% of the tabular value for dry rolled corn (1.50 Mcal/kg) and 84% of the tabular value for SFC (1.62 Mcal/kg). Nitrogen intake, and N excretion were greater (P < 0.05) in heifers fed 15% SWDGS than in heifers fed the 0% SWDGS diets, but N loss as a % of N intake was less (P < 0.05). Our results suggest adding 1.5% fat to diets containing 15% SWDGS may improve beef cattle performance; however, feeding logistics need to be considered when pricing wet DG.

Purification of Polyphenols from Distiller's Grains by Macroporous Resin and Analysis of the Polyphenolic Components.

We aimed to purify polyphenols from distiller’s grain extract using macroporous resins and to identify its polyphenolic components. The influence of operational parameters on purification efficiency was investigated. The polyphenolic composition was analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) and then quantified by UPLC-MS using authenticated standards. The results showed that the optimal purifying conditions were D101 resin with a dosage of 3 g, four hours adsorption, three hours desorption time, and 60% ethanol as the eluent, producing the highest purification rate of 51%. The purified distiller’s grain extract exhibited stronger antioxidant activity than the unpurified extracts, which was assessed using DPPH and ABTS methods (IC50 DPPH = 34.03 and 16.21 μg/mL, respectively; IC50 ABTS = 20.31 and 5.73 μg/mL, respectively). UPLC-MS results indicated that (−)-epicatechin is the major compound found in distiller’s grain extract which was quantified as 562.7 μg/g extract, followed by ferulic acid (518.2 μg/g), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (417.7 μg/g), caffeic acid (217.1 μg/g), syringic acid (158.0 μg/g) and quercetin (147.8 μg/g). Two compounds, vanillic acid (66.5 μg/g) and gallic acid (41.4 μg/g), were found in lower concentrations. The findings of this study suggest that purification of polyphenolic compounds from distiller’s grain by macroporous resins is feasible, providing a new and effective method for the secondary use of distiller’s grain resources.

Controlling excited-state contributions with distillation in lattice QCD calculations of nucleon isovector charges gSu−d , gAu−d , gTu−d

We investigate the application of the distillation smearing approach, and the use of the variational method with an extended basis of operators facilitated by this approach, on the calculation of the nucleon isovector charges $g_S^{u-d}$, $g_A^{u-d}$, and $g_T^{u-d}$. We find that the better sampling of the lattice enabled through the use of distillation yields a substantial reduction in the statistical uncertainty in comparison with the use of alternative smearing methods, and furthermore, appears to offer better control over the contribution of excited-states compared to use of a single, local interpolating operator. The additional benefit arising through the use of the variational method in the distillation approach is less dramatic, but nevertheless significant given that it requires no additional Dirac inversions.

Techno-economic analysis of water precipitation for lignin value prior to pulping

Lignocellulosic biorefinery strategies are evolving to include recovering value from lignin as well as the sugar components. Dissolving the lignin in a solvent to separate it from the cellulose fraction is a popular strategy. Lignin solvation techniques must be paired with complementary lignin and solvent recovery strategies. Water precipitation to decrease the solvent concentration is a popular method of laboratory-scale lignin precipitation, but it requires solvent concentrations of 3–10%v/v. High lignin precipitation yields must be tempered by the economic challenges of recovering the dilute solvent in an industrial process. Herein we describe several solvent recovery strategies and their implementation for lignin value prior to pulping (LVPP) with water precipitation. We model the use of distillation, multi-effect evaporation, and reverse osmosis (RO) to concentrate and recover solvent. Two different solvents, low and high boiling, above and below water, (b.p. <80°C or >120°C), are concentrated from dilute to pretreatment solutions of 70%v/v and 90%v/v. We show that the annual costs of solvent recovery after water precipitation, given current industrial separation techniques, would be prohibitive for lignin commercialization due to a required lignin selling price of a few times its fuel value.

Scale up and scale down issues of renewable ammonia plants: Towards modular design

In this work, the scale-up and down of a renewable-based ammonia facility has been evaluated. Nitrogen is obtained from air separation. Three technologies have been compared, membrane separation, pressure swing adsorption and a Linde’s double column. Hydrogen is produced from water splitting using solar, photovoltaic, or wind energy. Finally, ammonia is synthesized in a three bed packed reactor. Two reactor designs were evaluated, direct and indirect cooling. The process is optimized by solving an NLP for each reactor design and nitrogen technology combination and for several production capacities, evaluating the operating and investment costs resulting from the need to use a number of parallel units. The production capacity defines the best technology depending on its characteristics. The results show that for very low production membranes are recommended, medium capacities should be produced using PSA while large require the use of distillation. The actual transition points have been computed. The high costs of panels and electrolyzers mitigate the issues related to duplicating small units. The expected decrease in the cost of both will result in competitive renewable ammonia production costs. Correlations for the investment and production costs as a function of the scale have been developed.

Energy requirements for the in-situ recovery of biobutanol via gas stripping

Biobutanol has been accepted as the preferred renewable, bio-based additive or replacement for petroleum based fuels. The production of biobutanol has, however, encountered low productivity and titres due to a high toxicity of butanol to the bacteria. This leads to an energy intensive distillation step. Gas stripping has been presented as a method of good potential because of its simplicity and clean operation, with the ability to concentrate the product by several fold. However, these investigations have lacked rigorous analysis of energy requirements, with the energy required at best being estimated using simplified assumptions. A detailed assessment of the energy requirements for gas stripping is presented in this work. This includes a rigorous analysis of the key operating variables of 21 experimental mass balance data sets from 16 investigations in the literature. Higher butanol concentrations in the culture and higher stripping temperatures are shown to be the two most significant parameters influencing the energy efficiency of the process. Gas stripping with distillation consumes 34.2 to 380 MJ/kg butanol and is 41–370% less energy efficient than the use of distillation only for product recovery. Hence an integrated analysis of the production and separation steps is essential to determine overall process benefits.

Does the use of distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) in layer diets affect the nutrients digestibility and manure pollution by nitrogen and phosphorous?

The objective of the current study was to examine the effect of the inclusion levels of distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) which partially and fully replaced soybean meal (SBM) in laying hen diets with or without enzyme or vitamin E supplementation on nutrients digestibility and excreted nitrogen and phosphorous. For these purposes, a total of 180 Hisex Brown laying hens at 22weeks of age were randomly distributed into 15 treatment groups in a 5×3 factorial design experiment including five levels of DDGS (0, 5.5, 11, 16.5 and 22% replaced for the same percent of SBM which represents 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% respectively in the diet) and three levels of feed additives (without, 250mg enzyme/kg diet or 200mg vitamin E/kg diet) through 22-42weeks of age. Results revealed that digestion coefficient values of nutrients including DM, OM, CP, EE, NFE and CF were more preferable in hens fed diets involved 25% DDGS instead of SBM than that of the control diet and other treatment groups. In contrast, hens fed 100% substitution of DDGS caused significant (P≤0.01) decrease in digestibility coefficients of all nutrients. The amount of daily excreted N was decreased in hens fed 25 or 50% DDGS substitution, whilst feeding 75 or 100% DDGS led to an elevation in N excretion. The proportion of excreted phosphorous was statistically (P≤0.01) decreased as the level of DDGS increased. Generally, neither enzyme nor vitamin E supplementation had any significant effect on the studied parameters. It could be concluded that DDGS could be used up to 50% as a replacement of SBM (11% of the diet) without any adverse effects on nutrients digestibility. Laying hen farms using DDGS up to 25 or 50% substituted for SBM in its diets (5.5 or 11% of the diet) will have clearer environment of nitrogen and phosphorous pollution than others whose diets free of DDGS.

Changes in aroma composition and sensory properties provided by distiller’s grains addition to bakery products

The limited use of distiller’s grains (DG) in the food industry result out of negative effects on texture and flavour. To investigate the odour, aroma volatiles in the common cereal based food system bread were analyzed. Therefore aroma volatiles in bread containing 0–20% DG were identified with Gas Chromatography-Olfactometry/Mass Spectrometry. Likewise, sensory properties were evaluated. As a result, 42 odour active compounds were identified in DDG bread. Phenylacetic acid and dimethyltrisulphide are transferred from DG to bread crust and crumb, but not interfering bread aroma. After comparison of highest flavour dilution (FD) factors, 4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone (FD = 128) and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine (FD = 128) were revealed in control bread crust, whereas 3-hydroxy-4,5-dimethyl-2-(5H)-furanone (FD = 512) and 4-hydroxy-23,5-dimethyl-3-(2H)-furanone (FD = 512) were revealed in 20% DG bread crust. Regarding bread crumb, 3-methylthiopropanal and 2-phenylethanol provided highest FD factors (FD = 32) in the control, whereas in 20% DG bread crumb 3-methylbutanoic acid, 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine and 3-hydroxy-4,5-dimethyl-2-(5H)-furanone provided FD factors ≥ 32 as well. Principal component analysis (PCA) of bread samples correlated to sensory attributes and important aroma volatiles revealed differences in odorant perception to the presence of 3-hydroxy-4,5-dimethyl-2(5H)-furanone and phenylacetic acid, with simultaneous absence of 2AP.

Use of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), with and without xylanase, in dog food

The effects of different levels of inclusion of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) with and without the addition of xylanase in extruded diets for dogs on total tract apparent macronutrient digestibility, faecal characteristics and palatability were evaluated in two experiments. In the first experiment, the coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) and faecal characteristics were measured in eight adult Beagle dogs according to a 8×8 Latin square design. The following diets were evaluated: 0, 60, 120 and 180g/kg of DDGS (as fed) with and without added xylanase. In the second experiment, the palatability of the diets was evaluated in separate tests to make three pair-wise comparisons: 0 vs 60g/kg of DDGS, 0 vs 180g/kg of DDGS and 180g/kg of DDGS without enzyme vs 180g/kg of DDGS with enzyme. Increasing the level of DDGS linearly reduced the CTTAD ether extract after acid hydrolysis (EEAH), gross energy (GE) and estimated metabolizable energy (ME). However, the CTTAD dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and organic matter (OM) indicated an increase in diet digestibility after xylanase supplementation (P<0.05). The DDGS CTTAD CP, EE, and DM, which were estimated from regression analyses, were 0.76, 0.63, and 0.59, respectively. Regarding faecal characteristics, no differences were observed for ammonia and faecal score. However, pH decreased as the dietary inclusion of DDGS increased (P<0.05). The dietary inclusion of 180g/kg (as fed) of DDGS improves palatability. Results indicated that the addition of DDGS reduces diet digestibility, however this effect can be attenuated by dietary xylanase supplementation.

Utilization of sorghum distillers dried grains in extruded and steam pelleted shrimp diets

Use of distillers dried grain with solubles from sorghum (sDDGS) was studied with respect to processing and physicochemical quality of shrimp feed, followed by growth trials with Litopenaeus vannamei (Pacific white shrimp). Shrimp diets with 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% sDDGS inclusion, as a replacement for soybean meal, were produced using extrusion and steam pelleting. Bulk density of extruded feed (0.53–0.58 g cm−3) was lower than that of pelleted feed (0.61–0.65 g cm−3), although sDDGS level did not have an impact. Finished diets were 100% sinking, with some exceptions in the case of extruded feed. Pellet durability index (89.4–96.3%) had an increasing trend up to 20% and 30% sDDGS for extruded and pelleted diets respectively. Extruded feed had higher degree of gelatinization than pelleted feed, although proportion of gelatinized starch generally decreased with sDDGS level. Water stability (76.2–91.6%) was higher for extruded feed as compared to pelleted feed, and remained unchanged or decreased with sDDGS level. The extruded and pelleted diets were evaluated in two growth trials with L. vannamei for duration of 9 and 6 weeks in 40 and 60 tanks (initial weight 0.36–0.38 g; 10 shrimps per tank) respectively. Significant differences were not observed in final mean weight and survival with respect to sDDGS level, indicating that up to 40% of this novel protein source can be used in feed formulations without affecting the performance of L. vannamei. Comparison of extruded feed with pelleted feed for impact on mean weight and feed conversion ratio did not yield conclusive results.