Abstrait

Improving the nutritional quality of wheat straw by urea processing and molasses

Y.Chbab, S.Elghaza, M.Ahd, A.Chaouch, A.Echchelh

The straw is a feed with a poor nutritional value. It is poor in nitrogenous matter, in fat and in minerals. It is hardly digestible and a little part can be ingested by ruminants. As a consequence, it cannot match the physiological and production needs of the animal. The development of the straw is important to supply an increasing demand. Indeed, we made a treatment of the wheat straw by urea (5 %) and molasses (10 %). The analytical control showed a clear improvement of the food quality and the nutritional value of the treated straw compared to the control (blank) feeds. A remarkable increase was recorded for total nitrogenous matter, total sugars and fats. Concerning minerals, we noticed relatively high values for phosphorus, calcium and some magnesium.