Ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) treatment of eleven different forages: Improvements to fiber digestibility in vitro

作者：Bals Bryan^*; Murnen Hannah; Allen Michael; Dale Bruce

来源：Animal Feed Science and Technology, 2010, 155(2-4): 147-155.

DOI：10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2009.11.004

• AFEX
• Forage ammoniation
• NDF digestion
• Switchgrass
• Corn stover

With the increased attention to bioenergy and especially cellulosic ethanol, there are concerns regarding potential competition for available land between biofuels and feeds/foods. Ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX), a pretreatment process for cellulosic ethanol, may also be used to improve ruminant digestibility of feedstuffs not traditionally used as forages. Eleven forages - including traditional forages, agricultural residues, and dedicated energy crops - were AFEX treated and digested in vitro with rumen inoculum. AFEX treatment improved 48-h neutral detergent fiber (aNDFom) digestion for several moderately indigestible forages compared to untreated samples, but showed no improvement for highly digestible samples. Of particular interest are corn stover and late-harvest switchgrass, as AFEX treatment improved digestibility by 52% and 128% over untreated material, whereas the improvement was 74% and 70% over conventional ammonia treatment, respectively. The Crude protein content of all treated samples increased to more than 100 g/kg dry forage. This research strongly Suggests that AFEX-treated feedstuffs can be competitive with traditional forages, and thus offer expanded options for ruminant feeding.

• 出版日期2010-2-10