Abstract 376

Chandra,-S; Prasad,-DA; Krishna,-N

Dep. Animal Science, College of Veterinary Science, Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Univ., Tirupati 517 502 Andhra Pradesh, India.

Animal-FeedScience-andTechnology. 1985, 12: 3, 187-194; 28 ref.

Groundnut husks were treated with 0, 30, 40, 50 or 60 g sodium hydroxide/kg. There was a decrease in neutral detergent fibre (NDF) (P <0.01) and an increase in DM digestibility (P <0.01) in vitro with increasing NaOH. Diets contained 40% groundnut husks untreated or treated with 50 g alkali/kg, and half of each diet was extruded. Diets were given to 4 Nellore rams of 16.5 kg liveweight. Alkali treatment increased (P <0.01) hemicellulose digestibility and reduced (P <0.05) ether extract (EE) digestibility. Extrusion cooking lowered hemicellulose (P <0.01), crude protein and EE digestibility. Although there was a large increase in the in vitro DM digestibility of groundnut husks with 50 g NaOH/kg, alkali treatment or extrusion cooking did not increase nutrient digestibility in lambs given complete diets containing 40% groundnut husks.