UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA THE DIGESTIBILITY OF PERILLA MEAL, HEMPSEED MEAL, AND BABASSU MEAL, AS DETERMINED FOR RUMINANTS A. H. FOLGER BULLETIN 604 JANUARY, 1937 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA THE DIGESTIBILITY OF PERILLA MEAL, HEMPSEED MEAL, AND BABASSU MEAL, AS DETERMINED FOR RUMINANTS 1 A. H. FOLGEK 2 INTRODUCTION In continuing its work to aid livestock feeders in their search for satis- factory feeds, the Division of Animal Husbandry of the University of California has conducted further tests on feeds that have recently come on the market. This paper contains the results of digestion trials conducted to find the feeding values of perilla meal, hempseed meal, babassu meal, and kapok meal. It supplements the information already given on other feeds in Bulletins 409, 439, and 575. 3 The trials were conducted with wether sheep. These animals are espe- cially suited to digestion trials, being eas} 7 " to handle and care for, and their feces being easy to collect and process. Coefficients of digestibility determined by their use are applicable to cattle. 4 Alfalfa hay of known digestibility was fed with the meals in the ration. When the sheep were being prepared for the respective trials, a preliminary feeding period of 10 days was used. During the 15 days following this period feces were collected for analysis. Detailed pro- cedures for these trials have been given in Bulletins 409 and 575. DIGESTION TRIAL WITH PERILLA MEAL Perilla seed is grown largely in the Orient, principally China, and has, during recent years, been imported in considerable quantities by the oil mills. Botanically, the plant is known as Perilla ocymoides. Large quantities of the residual meal have been available and have been sold as stock feed. The meal proved to be fairly palatable to the animals as it was eaten readily by them. 1 Received for publication September 23, 1936. 2 Superintendent of Official Advanced Registry Tests. 3 Mead, S. W., and H. R. Guilbert. The digestibility of certain fruit by-products as determined for ruminants. Part I. Dried orange pulp and raisin pulp. California Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 409:1-12. 1926. (Out of print.) Mead, S. W., and H. R. Guilbert. The digestibility of certain fruit by-products as determined for ruminants. Part II. Dried pineapple pulp, dried lemon pulp, and dried olive pulp. California Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 439:1-12. 1927. Folger, A. H. The digestibility of brown alfalfa hay, sesame meal, and artichoke silage as determined for ruminants. California Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 575:1-8. 1934. *Armsby, H. P. The nutrition of farm animals, p. 603-05. The Macmillan Co., New York. 1930. [3] 4 University of California — Experiment Station Table 11 compares the total digestible nutrients of perilla meal with other common feeds. TABLE 1 Total Feed Consumed and Total Feces Collected in Trial with Perilla Meal Animal No. Alfalfa hay Perilla meal Feces (dry) 1 2 grams 3,300 3,300 3,300 3,300 3,300 3,300 grams 6,600 6,600 6,600 5,550 6,600 6,600 grams 3,470 3,478 3 3,369 4 3,421 5 6 3,178 3,444 TABLE 2 Chemical Analyses of Feces and Feeds Animal No. or feed analyzed Dry matter* Crude protein Nitrogen-free extract Ether extract Crude fiber Feces: 1 per cent 91.30 92.05 per cent 11.09 11.23 10.90 10.72 11.48 11.13 18.68 38.03 per cent 28.61 28.60 28.76 30.21 28.76 26.37 36.91 14.97 per cent 2.00 2.77 1.74 1.70 2.18 2.10 1.43 9.31 per cent 44.95 2 42 30 3 42.40 4 41.87 5 42.20 6 42.10 Feed: Alfalfa hav 23.98 Perilla meal 21.40 * In these trials the feces were taken to the drying oven immediately after collection, and the dry weights recorded after removal from the oven. TABLE 3 Coefficients of Digestibility of Perilla Meal Animal No. Dry matter Crude protein Nitrogen-free extract Ether extract Crude fiber 1 per cent 60.39 59.59 62.63 56.28 65.20 61.38 per cent 89.56 89.71 90.36 90.06 89.80 88.79 per cent 30.94 33.98 39.99 22.75 41.45 41.71 per cent 93 71 89.32 95.83 95.14 93.67 93.82 per cent 18.41 2 18.50 3 25.49 4 11.03 5 33.42 6 29.35 Average 60.91 89.71 35.14 93.58 22.70 One fact observed concerning the storage properties of the perilla meal used should interest the user who stores his feed for some time be- fore using it. Two lots of perilla meal were obtained at different times ; within a comparatively short time the stored meal had become so solidi- fied that it could not be used. It rather resembled sacked cement, damp and set, and could not readily be broken up for use as feed. Bul. 604] Digestibility of Perilla and Other Meals DIGESTION TRIAL WITH HEMPSEED MEAL The oil mills of the Pacific Coast recently have been crushing large quantities of hempseed (from the common hemp plant, Cannabis sativa) , and the resulting meal has been sold to livestock men in steadily increas- ing amounts. Because of its sudden importance to the feeders of livestock TABLE 4 Total Feed Consumed and Total Feces Collected in Trial with Hempseed Meal Animal No. Alfalfa hay Hempseed meal Feces (dry) 1 grams 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 grams 6,000 6,000 6,000 5,250 6,000 6,000 grams 4,105 2 4,345 3 4,024 4 3,811 5 3,790 6 3,865 in California and the lack of recent information concerning it, a diges- tion trial was decided upon. The meal was fed to the sheep used in the previous trial with perilla meal. The hempseed meal proved rather unpalatable to sheep, and some difficulty was experienced in getting them to eat it. They were finally brought on to feed, however, and the trial was completed satisfactorily. TABLE 5 Chemical Analyses of Feces and Feeds in Trial with Hempseed Meal, Lot 1 Animal No. or feed analyzed Dry matter* Crude protein Nitrogen-free extract Ether extract Crude fiber Feces: 2 per cent 92.05 92.82 per cent 10.19 10.69 10.43 19.57 31.43 per cent 36.57 37.94 36.70 37.66 24.40 per cent 1.81 1.97 2.02 1.33 5.07 per cent 39.90 3 38.70 4 40.18 Feeds: Alfalfa hay 23.08 Hempseed meal (lot 1) 23.26 * In these trials the feces were taken to the drying oven immediately on collection, and the dry weight was recorded upon removal from the oven. Because of the time occupied in accustoming the sheep to the meal and the consequent waste of feed, a second lot of hempseed meal had to be ordered. This brought to our attention a condition that may confront the livestock feeder at any time : the two meals were totally unlike in appearance. The first lot purchased was finely ground and light brown in color ; the second lot was coarsely ground and dark green. Investigation showed that the brown color of the first lot was un- doubtedly due to scorching caused by the application of too much heat 6 University of California — Experiment Station during the milling process. The second lot of meal was obviously the more palatable of the two. Tables 5 and 6 give the analyses of the two lots. Despite the difference in appearance between the two lots of hempseed meal, table 7 shows no great variation in the digestion coefficients of the TABLE 6 Chemical Analyses of Feces and Feeds in Trial with Hempseed Meal, Lot 2 Animal No. or feed analyzed Dry matter* Crude protein Nitrogen-free extract Ether extract Crude fiber Feces: 1 per cent 92.20 91.12 per cent 9.85 10.64 9.88 19.56 30.50 per cent 33.89 33.59 33.91 37.76 19.72 per cent 2.24 2.34 1.58 1.33 7.26 per cent 43.85 5 39.35 6. . 41.40 Feeds : Alfalfa hay 23.12 Hempseed meal (lot 2) 24.30 * In these trials the feces were taken to the drying oven immediately on collection, and the dry weight was recorded upon removal from the oven. important constituents of the two lots. The analyses in tables 5 and 6, however, show the scorched meal to be considerably lower in ether ex- tract. The crude-fiber content of hempseed meal is decidedly higher than that found in comparable concentrates of similar protein content. Table 11 compares the total digestible nutrients of hempseed meal with other common feeds. TABLE 7 Coefficients of Digestibility of Hempseed Meal Animal No. Dry matter Crude protein Nitrogen-free extract Ether extract Crude fiber 1 per cent 42.74 39.21 42.64 44.63 48.50 47.70 per cent 84.30 83.16 83.48 84.86 83.62 84.44 per cent 6.83 11.14 17.81 17.05 18.78 15.35 per cent 84.85 82.98 82.78 81.18 85.53 92.64 per cent 1.04 2 3 14.69 4 4.60 5 6 21.80 17.43 Average 44.24 83.98 14.49 84.99 11.91* * Average for five sheep; No. 2, having a negative coefficient for crude fiber, is omitted from this calculation. DIGESTION TRIAL WITH BABASSU MEAL Recent importations of babassu nuts (Orbignya speciosa) from South America by the oil mills have drawn attention to this product. The nuts are favored by the oil mills because of ease of handling and the high qual- ity of the oil produced. The resultant meal resembles copra meal in color, odor, and chemical composition. It seems palatable to stock, as no diffi- culty was experienced in getting the sheep to eat it. Too large a propor- tion of it in the ration caused scouring, however ; and the meal appears BUL. 604] Digestibility of Perilla and Other Meals to have some laxative properties, perhaps because of an unusually high magnesium content (table 12). Table 11 compares the total digestible nutrients in babassu meal with those of other common feeds. TABLE 8 Total Feed Consumed and Total Feces Collected in Trial with Babassu Meal Animal No. Alfalfa hay Babassu meal Feces (dry) grams grams grams 1 2,250 6,000 1,676 2 3,000 6,000 1,960 3 3,000 6,000 2,046 4 3,000 6,000 1,920 5 2,250 6,000 1,610 6 2,250 6,000 1,679 TABLE 9 Chemical Analyses of Feces and Feeds Animal No. or feed analyzed Dry matter* Crude protein Nitrogen-free extract Ether extract Crude fiber Feces: 1 per cent 91.87 92.70 per cent 17.07 17.08 16.43 16.24 17.67 16.70 19.56 24.60 per cent 36.65 33.69 32.31 34.44 35.18 36.13 35.52 44.47 per cent 3.81 3.90 3.76 4.22 3.68 3.64 1.70 6.67 per cent 30.13 2 32.00 3 32.20 4 28.75 5 6 Feeds: Alfalfa hay 30.15 25.60 25.07 Babassu meal 11.90 * In these trials the feces were taken to the drying oven immediately on collection, and the dry weight was recorded upon removal from the oven. TABLE 10 Coefficients of Digestibility of Babassu Meal Animal No. Dry matter* Crude protein Nitrogen-free extract Ether extract Crude fiber 1 2 3 per cent 83.00 82.00 81.70 85.40 84.20 83.40 per cent 86.60 85.80 85.30 88.90 86.00 85.90 per cent 84.60 85.40 86.70 87.10 87.00 85.40 per cent 90.30 89.50 89.40 88.40 91.40 91.70 per cent 70.00 59.90 63.50 4 5 6 78.40 72.00 84.90 Average 83.30 86.40 86.00 90.10 71.50 RESULTS OBTAINED WITH KAPOK MEAL The kapok meal was put on the market after several mills had begun to extract the oil of kapok seeds (Ceiba pentandra) , a by-product of the production of kapok fiber. The meal was not attractive, being gritty and lacking in distinctive flavor. It proved impossible either to persuade or to force any of the sheep to eat the meal in sufficient quantities to enable us to conduct a digestion 8 University of California — Experiment Station tr'al, several of them refusing to eat any of it at all. Kapok meal was then mixed with the regular concentrate ration used in the dairy herd, about one-third kapok meal being used in the mixture. Several of the cows re- fused the mixture, and all of them reduced their consumption of it. TABLE 11 Total Digestible Nutrients of Various Common Feeds Compared with the Feeds Used in These Trials Feed Alfalfa hayf Prime cottonseed mealf. . Coconut meal, new processt Linseed meal, new process f. Barley f Perilla meal Hempseed meal Babassu meal Total dry matter in 100 pounds per cent 91.4 92.2 90.0 90.9 90.7 92.1 92.0 92.7 Digestible nutrients in 100 pounds Crude protein per cent 10.6 33.4 19.9 30.2 9.0 34.1 26.0 21.3 Carbo- hydrates per cent 39.0 24.3 44.2 32.6 66.8 10.1 6.0 '44.8 Fat per cent 0.9 7.9 3.0 6.7 1.6 8.7 5.2 6.0 Total* per cent 51.6 75.5 70.8 77.9 79.4 63.8 43.8 79.7 * Total includes fat times the factor 2.25. t Henry, W. A., and F. B. Morrison. Feeds and feeding— 18th edition. 770 p. Appendix table III. The Henry-Morrison Co., Madison, Wis. 1923. TABLE 12 i Mineral Matter of Some Common Feeds Compared with the Feeds used in These Trials Feed Alfalfa hay* Barley* Cottonseed meal 41 per cent* Hempseed meal Perilla meal Babassu meal Calcium per cent 1.43 0.05 0.20 0.25 0.56 0.13 Phosphorus per cent 0.21 0.38 1.19 0.43 0.47 0.49 Magnesium per cent 0.26 0.12 0.65 0.78 0.79 97 * Morrison, F. B. Feeds and Feeding, 20th edition, p. 1009-10. The Morrison Publishing Co., Ithaca, N. Y. 1936. Inquiry among stockmen revealed similar difficulty with the kapok meal, and is almost total disappearance from the market indicates lack of success v ith it. Used as part of a feed mixture in small proportions, 10 per cent or less of the total, it may be satisfactory where it can be bought at a price in keeping with its quality. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The writer wishes to acknowledge his appreciation of the interest and assistance of Robert Caldwell in making the chemical determinations. 12m-2,'37