Evaluation of moist heat treatment of canola meal on digestion in the rumen, small intestine, large intestine and total digestive tract of steers
The effect of heat treatment on canola meal (CM) dry matter (DM) and nitrogen (N) degradability in the rumen and digestion in the small and large intestines and total digestive tract of steers was determined. CM was moist-heat-treated at 127 °C for 15 and 45 min. The degradation of DM and N was estimated using small nylon bags in the rumen for 0.1, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 48 and 72 h. The mobile bag technique with an in vitro incubation in an acid-pepsin solution was used with a separate set of bags to estimate the digestion of each nutrient in the small and large intestines as well as the total digestive tract for rumen incubation times of 8, 16 and 24 h. Chemical analysis of heated CM showed a significant reduction in soluble N, sucrose and glucosinolate content while the concentration of ADIN increased. Treatment significantly reduced the degradation of DM and N in the rumen while the digestibility of DM and N in the small intestine increased with both treatments proportional to the decreased rumen degradation. Heat treatment had no effect on DM and N digestibility at the large intestine site. Total tract disappearance of DM and N were not affected by 15 min heating; however, after 45 min heating, DM and N disappearances were reduced. Moist heat treatment was effective in reducing rumen disappearance of CM nitrogen while it increased the N digestion in the small intestine. Key words: Heat treatment, canola meal, ruminant intestine, protein digestion