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Performance of Lambs Fed Rations Containing Formaldehyde Treated Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal¹

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705 and Berkeley, CA 94710

Abstract

Three feeding experiments were conducted with finishing lambs to determine whether formaldehyde treatment of dehydrated alfalfa meal, intended as a protein protectant, would affect the lambs' performance. The treated alfalfa meals comprised 25% of the lamb's diets, the rest of which was 62% corn meal, 10% molasses, 2% minerals and vitamins and 1% urea. In two experiments, rate of gain, feed consumption and feed efficiency were not affected (P>.05) by formaldehyde levels of .33 to 2% of meal weight. In a third experiment, 1% formaldehyde treatment increased feed consumption, but rate of gain was unaffected and feed efficiency was reduced. A substantial part of the total formaldehyde recoverable from the treated meals by phosphoric acid hydrolysis and distillation was also recoverable by merely slurrying the meal in water and incubating for 18 hr at 37 C or for 30 min at room temperature. Moreover, acid-detergent insoluble nitrogen, a measure of heat damage in hays and silages, was increased by formaldehyde treatment. The chemical similarities of the nonenzymatic browning reaction, to which heat damage in forage is largely attributed, and the reaction of formaldehyde with protein is briefly discussed. The conclusions are that formaldehyde treatment of dehydrated alfalfa meal mimics the effects of heating or overheating and, as the feeding experiments demonstrated, is not likely to be a useful method for protecting dehydrated alfalfa protein from rumen microbial attack.

¹ The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of Miss Nina Horowitz and Mr. Edward Williams.

² Ruminant Nutrition Laboratory, Nutrition Institute, Beltsville, MD 20705.

³ Western Regional Research Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94710.