BIOCONVERSÃO DA PALMA FORRAGEIRA E DO SISAL COMO ALTERNATIVA PARA ALIMENTAÇÃO ANIMAL

Resumo

The cactus pear (Opuntia ficus indica Mill) and sisal (Agave sisalana Perrine) are resources used as feed for ruminants during shortage, because they are plants adapted to the harsh conditions in the Brazilian semiarid region. However, those plants have low protein content, and, because of that, it is always recommended to provide protein supplement associated to the animal's diet, but the commercial concentrates usage for protein supplementation increases the activity of livestock production costs in the region. Therefore, the study of alternatives to increase protein value of those plants makes it a good strategy to try to minimize those problems. The objective of this paper was to study the protein enrichment process of the cactus pear and sisal by semisolid fermentation, with the use of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, evaluating the influence of mineral supplement concentration and sisal mass in the protein content, aimed at producing a protein supplement to be used in animal feed. Fermentation was performed in a batch system during 24 h. The corresponding environment was added to the bioreactor, and then yeast and commercial mineral were added as well, following a 32 experimental design. The studied variables were evaluated, and it was observed that the highest level of crude protein and increasing protein were achieved in fermentations performed by 3% and 400%, respectively. The corresponding experimental conditions for those results were: 0.1 % for mineral supplement concentration mass and 100% for sisal. According to those conclusions, it appears that the aim of protein enrichment forage by semisolid fermentation using yeast has been achieved.