CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, DEGRADABILITY AND METHANE EMISSION POTENTIAL OF BANANA CROP RESIDUES FOR RUMINANTS

Abstract

Banana leaf hay (BL), banana pseudostem hay (BP), coast-cross hay (CC), 50% coast-cross hay with 50% banana leaf (BLCC) and 50% coast-cross hay with 50% pseudostem hay (BPCC) were evaluated for chemical composition, cumulative gas production, dry matter degradability and methane emission potential. Inoculums from sheep and cattle were collected to tests. The experimental design was completely randomized in a factorial arrangement of 5 x 2, being data analysed by variance analysis and the means compared by Tukey test (5%). The crude protein levels for the substrates BL, BP, CC, BLCC and BPCC were respectively 13.8%, 3.5%, 8.6%, 9.7% and 6.1%. Despite its low protein level, the BP substrate had higher content of non-fibrous carbohydrates (28.4%), followed by BL (23.4%), BPCC (23.4%), BLCC (20.0%) and CC (13.3%). The highest cumulative gas production was observed for BP (P < 0.05), reflecting their greater effective degradability (76.3%). This substrate showed the largest emissions of methane (34,16 mL/g DMD).