An unprecedented study conducted by Embrapa is testing the use of detoxified castor bean meal as a substitute for castor bean meal. soy in the diet of beef cattle, as well as its potential for reducing methane emissions. Embrapa Pecuária Sul and partners are evaluating the consumption, digestibility and safety of bran in animal diets in Bagé.
This is because castor oil originally contains ricin, a toxic component. However, after detoxification in the industry, castor oil meal has great potential for feeding ruminants. It contains up to 45% of crude protein, 10% more than soybean meal, and is cheaper.
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Previous tests with small ruminants have already demonstrated that detoxified castor bean meal does not have any harmful effects in the diet of these animals, which are considered polygastric. Monogastric animals, such as poultry, fish and pigs, are not tolerant to castor bean meal and cannot consume the byproduct.
Innovation in the livestock market
Bruna Machado, a zootechnician, is testing castor bean meal in her doctoral thesis to introduce it safely into the Brazilian livestock market. “We hope to achieve adequate and safe conditions for the use of castor bean meal in ruminant diets. The purpose is to supplement animals in the field and also in confined environments,” she highlighted.
According to Liv Severino, a researcher at Embrapa Cotton who has been working with castor beans for about 20 years, there has been significant progress in the tests conducted with beef cattle at this time, with great expectations from the castor bean industry worldwide. “India and China are major producers, but they do not use castor bean meal in animal feed. This step is a world first,” the researcher emphasizes, predicting a significant increase in the value of the product with the success of the experiments.
Methodology used
The doctoral thesis is entitled “Safe use of castor bean meal for ruminants and reduction of enteric methane emissions”. The project has the collaboration of the Pastures and Supplements Laboratory of UFSM. Twenty one-year-old Brangus females, divided into four groups, have access to feed under a specific treatment.
The animals receive a base diet for all treatments, consisting of 1% of concentrate and 2% of pre-dried oats, with ad libitum supply. The treatments consist of different levels of inclusion of detoxified castor bean as a replacement for soybean meal. The replacement levels are 10, 20 and 30%, in addition to the control treatment, without the addition of castor bean meal.
“Each animal has access to only one of the four troughs in the pen with its respective castor oil inclusion level treatment. This is only possible because each animal has an identification chip implanted in its ear, allowing access to the trough, which only allows entry to previously registered animals,” explains Bruna.
New diet and reduction of methane emissions
One of the potentials of the castor bean meal tested in the study is the reduction of the production and emission of enteric methane by beef cattle. This factor, together with the nutrition of ruminants, aims to make livestock farming more competitive and sustainable.
“One of the main sources that contributes to the emission of this gas is the enteric fermentation process in ruminants, with methane being a very important gas for the objective of reducing global warming. As Brazil has one of the largest cattle herds in the world, one of the ways for the country to meet the international commitments to reduce methane emissions is through the management and formulation of more efficient diets”, highlights Bruna.
In addition to using animal nutrition as a tool to reduce methane emissions, livestock farming can contribute significantly to carbon sequestration, through practices such as correct pasture management.
Castor detoxification
Castor oil is grown to extract oil from the seed. The bran, which until now was used only as an organic fertilizer due to the presence of ricin in its composition, is left as waste. The toxic protein is capable of inactivating ribosomes, impairing protein synthesis and causing cell death. However, it is possible to efficiently detoxify castor oil meal in the oil extraction industry, enabling its use as feed for ruminant animals. When we subject the input to the appropriate process, we can use it as a substitute for soybean meal in ruminant diets, taking advantage of its high crude protein content and lower cost.
Source: Embrapa Southern Livestock | Notícias Agrícolas
