INFLUENCE OF BOVINE FECES LEVEL ON THE SOLID-STATE FERMENTATION OF SUGAR-CANE

In order to study the protein sugar cane enrichment with bovine faeces the chemical composition and the solid state fermentation products of the mixture with different proportions of ground sugar cane and bovin e faeces (80:20, 70:30, 60:40) were determined. The mixture was expose d to different fermentation periods (0, 12, 24, 36 and 48 hr) followin g a completly randomized design with a 3 x 5 factorial arrangement and 4 repetitions. Dry matter diminished (P < 0.01) while the levels of f aeces and the fermentation interval increased. NH3 and AGV(t) concentr ations did not differ significantly with 20 and 30% of faeces after 24 or more hours The pH diminished with the fermentatiom period after 24 hours and increased (P < 0.01) with the addition of faeces in the mix ture. Results show that the highest protein enrichment (10%) was attai ned with a sugar cane:waste proportion of 70:30 and 48 hr of fermentat ion though the variant of 20% of faeces could be used as an alternativ e. It is suggested to study longer fermentation periods than those stu died because a decrease in the true protein content was not observed.