BY-PRODUCTS ▶▶▶
Sugarcane by-products: The future feed for animal production
Researchers at Queensland University of Technology examined two by-products from the sugarcane industry: bagasse and cane trash to transform them into quality feed ingredients.
BY NATALIE BERKHOUT, FREELANCE JOURNALIST
Queensland Uni- versity of Tech- nology’s Mackay Renewable Bio- commodities Pi- lot Plant is locat- ed on the site of a sugar mill.
S
ugarcane bagasse and trash is not fed to animals because these by-products are neither digestible nor nutritious in their raw form. However, Queens- land University of Technology (QUT) scientists are
discovering ways to develop new bagasse and trash treat- ment processes, while adding probiotic and enzyme supple- ments, to change their structure and chemistry. This will in- crease their nutritional value and transform them into quality feed ingredients for animals, including chickens, pigs and cattle. In Australia alone, of the 35 million tonnes of sug- arcane that is grown annually, 10 million tonnes of bagasse, a fibrous residue left over when the cane is processed to ex-
tract its juice, remains. There is also an abundance of cane trash, mainly the tops and leaves of the sugarcane that re- main in the field when the plant is harvested. According to QUT senior research fellow, Dr Mark Harrison, the research that’s done to find efficient, economically viable ways of transforming bagasse and cane trash into animal feed is very much about upcycling – re-using materials and waste to cre- ate higher value products. “Recycling and upcycling are com- mon practices in several industries, and these techniques have many potentially profitable applications across the ag- ricultural sector,” he said. Much of the research into trans- forming these wastes into feed ingredients takes place at QUT’s Mackay Renewable Biocommodities Pilot Plant, based on the site of a sugar mill. This plant is a unique research and development facility that can convert biomass into biofuels, green chemicals and other bioproducts. At the pilot plant, scientists are using chemicals, heat and pressure to break down sugarcane bagasse or trash fibres to release sugars and make them available to the animal that ultimately eats the feed.
The research focuses on 3 processes: –
– –
Pretreatment to change the structure and chemistry of fibre so that digestibility is improved.
Processing to dissolve the sugar polymers in the fibre and produce a feed syrup with similar properties to mo- lasses.
Solid-state and liquid fermentation to produce single-cell microbial feed protein from crop by-products, which are sometimes pretreated.
“We know what conditions are needed to make the fibre more digestible for cattle. After pretreatment, the fibre is softer and can provide the animal with more energy. We also know what conditions to use to partially dissolve the fibre to make a liquid sugar product that we could feed to pigs or chickens,” said Harrison. “If pretreatment in the hori- zontal reactor doesn’t do the trick, we can drop the pre- treated bagasse or trash into the vertical, steam-explosion reactor that is located underneath. We can pump steam into the vertical reactor and then release the pressure very
16 ▶ ALL ABOUT FEED | Volume 28, No. 4, 2020
PHOTO: QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
PHOTO: WIRESTOCK
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