A Review Regarding the Use of Molasses in Animal Nutrition
1
Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche Veterinarie (DIMEVET), Alma Mater Studiorum—Università di Bologna, Via Tolara di sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano Emilia, Italy
2
Dipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata ed Alimentazione (BCA), Università di Padova, Via dell’Università 6, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Animals 2021, 11(1), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11010115
Received: 20 November 2020
/
Revised: 3 January 2021
/
Accepted: 5 January 2021
/
Published: 7 January 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Feeds and Byproducts)
Simple Summary
The aim of the authors is to make a summary of the possible applications of molasses in animal nutrition, how to improve hays and silage qualities for beef and dairy cattle; to enhance industrial byproducts values by liquid feed in swine production; and to improve with feed blocks the extensive livestock production efficiency (cows, buffaloes, sheep, goats and pigs). Focus is both on characteristics feed based on molasses and on ruminal fermentation: the techniques of production, conservation and administration to animals have been widely described as being capable of positively influencing animal performance, milk and meat quality, as well as animal welfare.
In the past fifty years, agriculture, and particularly livestock production, has become more resource-intensive, with negative implications regarding world environmental status. Currently, the circular economy 3R principles (to reduce, reuse and recycle materials) can offer many opportunities for the agri-food industry to become more resource-efficient. The closed-loop agri-food supply chain has the great potential of reducing environmental and economic costs, which result from food waste disposal. To meet these principles, the use of crop byproducts, such as molasses, in animal nutrition improves the nutritive value of coarse and poorly desired feedstuff, which could present a real opportunity. The aims of this study were to summarize the possible applications of molasses for animal nutrition, to improve hay and silage quality for beef and dairy cattle, to enhance industrial byproduct values using liquid feed in swine production, and to improve extensive livestock production with feed blocks. The study focused on both feed characteristics, based on molasses, and on ruminal fermentation of its carbohydrates; the techniques of the production, conservation and administration of molasses to animals have been widely described as being capable of positively influencing animal performance, milk and meat quality.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
sugar cane molasses; sugar beet molasses; animal nutrition; animal production; circular economy
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Mordenti, A.L.; Giaretta, E.; Campidonico, L.; Parazza, P.; Formigoni, A. A Review Regarding the Use of Molasses in Animal Nutrition. Animals 2021, 11, 115. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11010115
AMA Style
Mordenti AL, Giaretta E, Campidonico L, Parazza P, Formigoni A. A Review Regarding the Use of Molasses in Animal Nutrition. Animals. 2021; 11(1):115. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11010115
Chicago/Turabian StyleMordenti, Attilio L., Elisa Giaretta, Luca Campidonico, Paola Parazza, and Andrea Formigoni. 2021. "A Review Regarding the Use of Molasses in Animal Nutrition" Animals 11, no. 1: 115. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11010115
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
