Page 10 - Effects of dried citrus pulp on nutrient intake, nitrogen balance and growth performance in Lohi lambs

Chemical Composition

The wet citrus pulp is a significant industrial by-product, which has almost 80%
moisture. It has low nitrogen level while it is high in sugars, non-starch polysaccharides

(NSP) and organic acids (Caro et al., 1990; Cervera et al., 1985). According to NRC (1996),

citrus pulp contains about 82 % total digestible nutrients (TDN) while it has a poor protein
value (6.7 %). Lanza (1982) also reported less protein content of dried citrus pulp (DCP)

while, high energy contents due to its highly fermentable carbohydrates.

Citrus pulp is appropriate for ruminal microbes and may be used in ruminant rations

(Grasser et al., 1995) in fresh, ensiled or dried form. It is the cheapest energy source

accepted by the ruminants (Bath et al., 1982). According to Fegeros et al. (1995), the DCP
is the best ingredient for ruminants. It has 90% DM, 83.15% OM, 16.85% ash, 7.75% CP,

19.4% NDF and 12.8% ADF (Fegeros et al., 1995). Bhattacharya and Harb (1973)
informed that DCP has 91.52% DM and 8.1% CP. Similarly, Belibasakis and Tsirgogianni

(1996) reported that DCP contains 90.4 % DM, 6.2% CP, 23.1% ADF, 25.9% NDF and
13.1% CF.

Al Khawajah (2003) also determined the nutritive value of DCP. He reported that

DCP has 91.8% DM, 6.9% CP and 7.1% ash. In another study, Oni et al. (2008) reported
that DCP contained 6.3% CP and 5.13% ash. Similarly, Watanabe et al. (2010) stated that

DCP comprised of 89.10% DM, 6.35% CP, 3528 kCal/kg metabolizable energy,18.85%
NDF and 14.32% ADF.

Nassar et al. (2008) stated the nutritive values of DCP. They reported that DCP has

89.87% DM, 4.75% CP, 1.72% fat and 2.60% ash. Hendrickson and Kesterson (1966) also
reported that DCP contains 91.4% DM, 6.5% CP and 4.8% ash. Ibrahim et al. (2011)

noticed 94.98, 6.40 and 5.02% OM, CP and ash contents while, NDF and ADF contents
were 26.21 and 20.35 in DCP, respectively.

Hernández et al. (2012) noticed that DCP contains 90.1% DM, 7.6% CP and 3.9%
ash. Kim et al. (2007) also reported that DCP is excellent ingredient for ruminants with

good nutritional profile having 88.3% DM, 15.6% NDF, 15.9% ADF and 7.2% CP. Similar

results were seen by Kordi and Naserian (2012) who analyzed nutritive value of fresh citrus
pulp and reported that fresh citrus pulp is nutritious ingredient for ruminants. It can be

supplemented in ensiled state for better growth and production. They also found that fresh

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