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Digestion and Utilization of Formaldehyde Treated Alfalfa Meal by Sheep

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland 20705 and and Berkeley, California 94710

Abstract

Dehydrated alfalfa meal that had been treated with formaldehyde³ at levels of 0, 1 or 2% of meal weight was blended with molasses, starch and minerals and then fed to sheep in experiments to determine digestibility, ruminal metabolite concentrations and digesta formaldehyde residue. Each increment of formaldehyde decreased (P< .01) the digestibility of dietary dry matter (67.4, 60.5 and 56.1% digestibility for the 0, 1 and 2% treated diets, respectively), of crude protein (63.1, 41.1 and 29.3%) and of fiber (60.0, 48.8 and 41.4% for neutral detergent fiber).

Sheep fed treated alfalfa had lower ruminal volatile fatty acid concentrations and tended to have a higher ruminal pH during the first 4 hr after feeding. There was no significant effect on the molar percentages of volatile fatty acids nor on the ammonia concentration in ruminal fluid of sheep fed the treated meal. Formaldehyde, expressed as a percentage of digesta dry matter or of digesta crude protein, was greater (P< .05) in omasal and ileal contents, but not in duodenal contents, of sheep fed treated alfalfa meal than in those fed the untreated meal.

¹ ARS, Nutrition Institute, Ruminant Nutrition Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland 20705.

² ARS, Western Regional Research Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94710.