Evaluating barley feed fractions from integrated ethanol-starch production in diets of ruminants

A new process for the integrated production of ethanol and starch yields barley fractions with different types and contents of carbohydrates and protein. The barley hulls and bran consist mainly of lignocellulose, the barley molasses has considerable contents of sugars and soluble protein, the barley protein contains 40 % protein and has a low fibre level, while the barley fibre consists mainly of cereal cell walls and its NDF is high. The amino acid content of the barley fractions is almost the same as in the barley raw material. The nutritive value of the barley fractions was assessed in six digestibility trials performed with rams. Barley protein and barley molasses had high digestibilities, 90—95 % for OM and 87—93 % for CP; barley fibre had slightly lower digestibilities, 73 % for OM and 77 for CP, while barley hulls and bran had low values, 58 % for OM and 64 % for CP. The nitrogen balance improved with increasing level of the barley fractions in hay diet. The FU values were 1.15,0.94, 0.97, 0.73, 0.30 and 0.93 per kg DM for barley protein, fibre, molasses, hulls +bran, hulls and a mixture of fibre and molasses, respectively. The present experiments indicated that, apart from the product of the dehulling process, the barley fractions obtained are of high nutritive value