Abstract

The study was undertaken to determine the effects of ammonium hydroxide (NH₄OH) treatment of sorghum stover residue on composition and in vitro dry matter disappearance (IVDMD) of two sorghum varieties, Dale (tall, sweet sorghum variety) and Brown mid rib (BMR) (Short, grain sorghum variety). The residue was treated with; water only (T00), 50 g NH₄OH kg^-1 residue dry matter (DM) (T50), 100 g NH₄OH kg^-1 DM (T100), and untreated control (neither water nor NH₄OH) (TUN) and allowed to react for one week before chemical analysis was performed. The fiber content (ADF and NDF) were not affected by the levels of alkali treatment but the crude protein (CP) and Soluble protein contents were both increased by alkali treatment. There was an increase (P < 0.05) in dry matter digestibility in vitro (IVDMD) by NH₄OH treatment from 529 g kg^-1 to 651 g kg^-1 in T50 and T100. The improvement in IVDMD may indicate that NH₄OH helps disrupt the lignin–carbohydrate complexes. The development of more economical and safe procedures which improve digestibility of the structural cell wall components would be very beneficial for improving the use of crop residue as feedstock for livestock and bioethanol production.

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