Livestock Research for Rural Development 5 (2) 1993

Citation of this paper

The use of sugar cane juice and molasses in the diet of growing pigs

Bui Huy Nhu Phuc

University of Agriculture and Forestry (UAF), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Summary

An experiment was carried out with 18 pigs of Yorkshire x Landrace breed divided into the following treatments: CON: 200 g/d of protein from a supplement (Soybean 71.26, fish meal 23.75, calcium phosphate 3.80, salt 0.95, vitamin-trace mineral premix 0.24%) and rice bran ad libitum; SCJL: the supplement was given in quantities ajusted to meet the total amount of protein the pigs consumed in CON plus sugar cane juice ad libitum (made by adding water to dehydrated cane juice, in ratio 3 parts water to 1 part dehydrated juice); AM: Same as SCJL but with "A" molasses instead of cane juice. There were no differences in rate of gain in weight among the three treatments. Feed conversion was poorest on the "A" molasses treatment but did not differ between the cane juice and the rice bran treatments.

KEY WORDS: Pigs, Sugar Cane Juice, "A" Molasses, Rice bran, Growth

 

Introduction

This research is a continuation of the programme of work aimed at adapting for Vietnamese conditions the pig feeding system based on derivatives of sugar cane developed originally in Latinamerica (Mena 1981; Fermin et al 1984; Sarria et al 1990).

Materials and methods

The experiment was carried out at the Experimental farm of UAF from 28/8/1991 to 1/1/1992. 18 pigs of Yorkshire x Landrace breed chosen from 3 litters were divided into 3 treatments.

CON: The pigs were fed 200 g/d of protein from a supplement (Soybean 71.26, fish meal 23.75, calcium phosphate 3.80, salt 0.95, vitamin-trace mineral premix 0.24%) and rice bran ad libitum.

SCJL: The pigs were fed the supplement in quantities ajusted to meet the total amount of protein the pigs consumed in CON, plus sugar cane juice ad libitum (made by adding water to dehydrated cane juice, in ratio 3 parts water to 1 part dehydrated juice).

AM: Same as SCJL but with "A" molasses instead of cane juice

The composition of the feeds is given in Table 1.

TABLE 1. Chemical composition of feeds (as fed basis)

Table 1: Chemical composition of feeds (as fed basis)
  Rice bran Soybean Fish meal
N x 6.25 12.3-12.7 41.20 38.40
Lysine 0.41 2.24 2.03
Met+Cys 0.51 1.18 1.03
  Dehydrated juice Molasses
Brix 71.0 75.0
Pol 54.9 34.8
Reducing sugars 6.9 14.1

 

There were 2 pigs per pen. The supplement was fed twice daily at 07:30 and 13:30 hours. Water was freely available. Liveweights were determined every 2 weeks, and the amount of feed was recorded daily. At the end of the experiment, three pigs per treatment were slaughtered to estimate the carcass quality.

 

Results

Mean value for growth and feed parameters are shown in Table 2.

Table 2 Mean values of growth and feed parameters (3 replicates of 2 pigs/treatment; 126 day trial)
    Dehydrated    
  Control cane juice "A" molasses SE/Prob
Liveweight (kg)        
Initial 30.1 30.2 30.5  
Final 92.7 96.7 91.6  
Daily gain 0.497 0.527 0.484 0.01/0.920
Feed intake (kg/d)        
Concentrate 0.57 0.92 0.93  
Rice bran 1.57      
Sugar cane juice   9.83    
"A" molasses     2.07  
Total dry matter 1.86 1.93 2.35 0.03/0.001
Conversion (DM) 3.75 3.68 4.97 0.17/0.005
Calculated intakes:        
N x 6.25 (g/d) 412 383 388 2.20/0.001
Lysine (g/d) 18.2 19.2 19.3 0.11/0.002
Met+Cys (g/d) 14.0 9.9 10.0 0.05/0.000
Ratio (Met+cys/        
lysine) 0.77 0.52 0.52  

 

There were no differences in rate of gain in weight among the three treatments. Feed conversion was poorest on the "A" molasses treatment but did not differ between the cane juice and the rice bran treatments.

On the basis of the findings of Wang and Fuller (1989), all the diets were poorly balanced for the principal essential aminoacids lysine and methionione+cystine (recommended ratio is 0.63). The rice bran diet was deficient in lysine (ratio of 0.77) and the dehydrated cane juice and "A" molasses were deficient in methionine+cystine (ratio of 0.52).

Carcass parameters are given in Table 3.

 

Table 3: Mean values for carcass parameters adjusted by covariance for final liveweight (3 pigs/treatment)
  Control Dehydrated "A" molasses SE/Prob
Live weight (kg) 95.6 94.0 91.8  
Carcass (kg) 67.9 69.5 67.7 1.24/0.56
Carcass yield (%) 72.4 74.0 72.2 1.30/0.59
Carcass        
Length (cm) 74.8 74.8 78.6 1.71/0.29
Back fat (mm) 27.1 28.7 28.7 1.73/0.75
Organs (g)        
Pancreas 240 263 263 31.6/0.85
Liver 1482 1284 1539 103.3/0.27
Heart 330 329 326 14.3/0.97
Lung 839 862 854 33.6/0.88

 

 

There were no differences in carcass yield, back fat thickness or in the internal organ weights.

Indices of meat quality in samples of Longissimus dorsi muscle are given in Table 4.

Table 4: Mean values for meat quality parameters adjusted by covariance for carcass weight (3 pigs per treatment)
  Control Dehydrated 'A' molasses SE/P
Iodine index 87.1 61.6 62.4 1.27/0.001
Dry matter (%) 27.4 28.8 30.5 0.67/0.07
Protein (%) 22.1 19.9 19.6 0.77/0.12
Ether extract (%) 4.3 7.7 9.1 0.98/0.04

 

The intramuscular fat from pigs fed molasses and reconstituted sugar cane juice had a lower iodine index than the fat from pigs fed rice bran. The moisture in the meat was less and the ether extract higher for the pigs fed the sugar-based diets.

It is difficult to explain why there should have been more fat in the eye muscle from pigs fed cane juice or "A" molasses compared with pigs fed rice bran. Differences were significant despite the small numbers (3 per treatment). Neverthess the small size of the sample is a limitation and further observations are needed on larger numbers before any firm conclusions can be drawn.

The lower iodine index in the fat of pigs fed "A" molasses or cane juice is to be expected in view of the unsaturated oils in rice bran and the virtual absence of lipids in the molasses and cane juice diets. Similar findings for "A" molasses versus rice bran as the basis of pig diets were reported in a companion paper (Bui and Luu 1993).

 

References

Bui Huy Nhu Phuc and Luu Trong Hieu 1993 "A" Molasses in diets for growing pigs. Livestock Research for Rural Development, Volume 5, Number 2:11-15

Fermin D, Fermin R, Pina A and Mena A 1984 Sugar cane juice as a substitute for maize and molasses in diets for fattening pigs. Tropical Animal Production 9:271-274

Mena A 1981 Sugar cane juice as an energy source for fattening pigs. Tropical Animal Production 6:338-344

Sarria Patricia, Solano A y Preston T R 1990 Utilización de jugo de caña y cachaza panelera en la alimentación de cerdos. Livestock Research for Rural Development Volume 2, Number 2: 92-99

(Received February 1 1993)