Industrial passion fruit residue as ruminant feed

Extract

In the Brazilian savanna region, which covers 2.1 million km², roughage production is irregular during the year. However the manufacture of passion fruit juice produces approximately 13,000,000 ton per year of industrial residue which consist of fruit pulp and seeds (FPSR) (Medina, 1980). Beef and dairy cattle farmers are feeding it to their livestock with no knowledge of its nutritive value or concern for its pollution aspects. The FPSR is left in piles outside on the ranches and fluid effluent is often observed reaching streams and contaminating the environment. Furthermore it is a good medium for fly proliferation which stresses the animals and reduces profits. The objective of this study was to demonstrate to the farmers a better way for storing the FPSR and to determine its nutritional value for ruminants.

The FPSR was stored in triplicate experimental mino-silos (200 1) in a complete 2x2 factorial design to observe the effects of 48-h wilting (sun dry) and anaerobic conditions. Open mini-silos were left uncovered while in anaerobic mini-silos the FPSR was sealed in plastic bags and covered with sacks of soil. Treatments were: Tl wilted and anaerobic; T2 wilted and open; T3 unwilted and anaerobic; T4 unwilted and open. The mini-silos were sampled at 30-day intervals for up to ll2 days. The samples were analysed for dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), lignin (LIN), phenolic compounds (PHEN), ammonia nitrogen (NH₃ -N), soluble carbohydrats (CHO sol) and pH. The DM effective degradability (DMED) was determined “in situ” using six Santa Inês male sheep fitted with rumen cannula and fed with a mixture 80:20 diet containing grass pasture and concentrate (160 g CP/kg DM). The effects of experimental conditions were analysed in a factorial treatment structure and tested by analysis of variance. Treatment means were compared by contrasts.