Studies on forage cell walls: 5. Alkali-treated lucerne

Abstract

Ground lucerne was treated with different concentrations of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) in a 'dry crystal' process, prior to pelleting.Data for feed characteristics and related utilization by sheep fed these diets are reported. NaOH and KOH had effects of different magnitude on the digestibility of cellwall constituents (CWC). An increase of nitrogen (N) in the cell wall (OWN) induced by tha alkali treatments, resulted in depressed nitrogen digestibility. The residual alkali and high electrolyte intakes produced higher rumen pH, but values were more stable than for sheep fed the control diet.

Effects of electron irradiation, sodium hydroxide and poly ethylene glycol on the utilization of pistachio by-products by Zandi male lambs

“…However, in contrast to our results, a decrease in NDF content of NaOH treated wheat straw and orchardgrass have been reported by Haddad et al (1994) and Canale et al (1990). The increased fiber content in NaOH treated PBP could be due to the reaction between carbonyl groups of carbohydrate with nitrogen (Mathews and McManus, 1976). The formation of Maillard products has also been reported by the NaOH treatment of Dichrostachys cinerea which is a tanniniferous protein rich fruit (Mlambo et al, 2004).…”