RU2787035C2 - Method for improvement of degradation of wheat straw - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: agriculture.

SUBSTANCE: method for improvement of degradation of wheat straw in the rumen of a ruminant animal is proposed, according to which wheat straw is provided, preliminary treated with alkali, the ruminant animal is fed with pretreated wheat straw. At the same time, a rumen enzyme additive is directly administered to the ruminant animal, i.e., the specified rumen enzyme additive is not used as pretreatment of wheat straw. Moreover, the specified rumen enzyme additive is a mixture of enzymes, containing at least two enzymes selected from glucanases, xylanases, esterases, or carboxymethylcelluloses.

EFFECT: invention provides improvement of degradation of wheat straw in the rumen of a ruminant animal.

16 cl, 1 dwg

Description

The technical field to which the invention belongs

The present invention relates to the field of agriculture, namely to animal nutrition, and relates to a method for improving feed degradation.

Technological prerequisites for creating an invention

Wheat straw is an inexpensive resource that can improve forage autonomy on some farms. Moreover, in some geographic areas, this feed is a very important resource in terms of quality, which can be successfully valorized in animal nutrition.

However, the use of wheat straw for highly productive ruminants, such as cattle in particular, is extremely limited. In fact, although wheat straw is high in fiber content, it has low nutritional value due to poor digestion by ruminants. In fact, when viewed from a chemical point of view, the presence of bonds between the constituents of the plant wall leads to a more or less strong resistance to the effects of the ruminal digestive microbiota. This resistance is expressed in poor degradation of feed in the animal's rumen.

Therefore, research has been carried out for decades to improve the degradation of forage, in particular wheat straw. It has been shown that the degradation of wheat straw can be improved by the combined use of chemical and enzymatic pre-treatments, and these pre-treatments even show a synergistic effect when used in this way.

Y. Wang et al. (J. Anim. Sci., 2004) reports, for example, the effect of alkaline pretreatment on the effectiveness of exogenous enzymes in improving the digestibility of wheat straw. In this publication, wheat straw is pre-treated with an alkaline solution and then sprayed with an enzyme solution. The results show that the combination of alkaline chemical pretreatment with enzymatic treatment improves the digestibility of wheat straw. Enzymatic treatment for wheat straw is carried out prior to feeding the animal in order to allow sufficient time for incubation and influence on digestibility. Thus, an enzymatic treatment can be described as a pre-treatment in the sense that it is a pre-treatment of the wheat straw so that, given the proper incubation time, the wheat straw can be used later to feed the animal and improve digestion.

However, the use of enzymes for pretreatment is not effective and has a number of disadvantages. In reality, the farmer has to spend a lot of time spraying the entire stock of wheat straw on the farm. Moreover, the time of application must be observed and the treatment must be carried out evenly, which means that the wheat straw must be in a relatively accessible form or in bulk. Finally, the cost of enzymes is relatively high, which limits the possibility of farm-scale pretreatment, especially in combination with chemical pretreatment, which already means additional costs. Therefore, the combination of chemical and enzymatic pre-treatments, although the latter is effective in improving the digestibility of wheat straw, does not allow large-scale application on farms due to high implementation costs. Moreover, this point of view is expressed in the publication of Y. Wang et al. in the “Conclusions” section, where it is directly stated that the combination of chemical and enzymatic treatments is not economically viable.

Thus, there is a need for ways to improve the degradation

wheat straw, and these methods should be inexpensive and suitable for farm-scale implementation. The valorization of wheat straw makes it possible to improve the fodder base and the overall autonomy of the farm.

Therefore, the merit of the inventors is that they have developed a method that solves all or part of the problems of the prior art. The inventors have surprisingly found that when an enzyme supplement is not used to pre-treat wheat straw, but is directly administered to a ruminant (in particular orally) before, during or after feeding chemically pre-treated wheat straw, then an effective improvement in degradation is maintained. wheat straw or even a synergistic effect due to chemical treatment and enzymatic treatment.

This direct administration (particularly oral) is particularly advantageous because then it is only a chemical pre-treatment of the wheat straw, and the enzyme supplement can be administered before, during or after the feeding of the chemically pre-treated wheat straw.

There was no reason to believe that the direct application of the enzyme additive would have the same effective positive effect on the rumen degradation of the chemically pretreated wheat straw as when spraying said enzyme additive on the chemically pretreated wheat straw.

This introduction is of great interest because, in addition to saving time and simplifying the process, it makes it possible to use a smaller amount of enzyme additive than when spraying the latter on wheat straw.

Disclosure of the essence of the invention

The first object of the invention relates to a method for improving the degradation of wheat straw in the rumen of a ruminant, comprising the following steps:

a) provision of wheat straw,

b) chemical pre-treatment of said provided straw,

c) feeding the ruminant with wheat straw, chemically

pretreated in step (b),

wherein said method is characterized in that it further comprises the step of (d) directly administering to the ruminant the rumen enzyme additive, which means that said enzyme additive is not used for straw pretreatment.

The second aspect of the invention relates to the direct application of a rumen enzyme supplement to a ruminant before, during or after feeding said ruminant with chemically pretreated wheat straw.

“Direct” application to the ruminant means that the enzyme additive is administered directly to the ruminant (eg orally) and that the enzyme additive is not used for wheat straw pretreatment.

Detailed description

The first object of the invention relates to a method for improving the degradation of wheat straw in the rumen of a ruminant, comprising the following steps:

a) provision of wheat straw,

b) chemical pre-treatment of said provided straw,

c) feeding the ruminant with wheat straw, chemically

pretreated in step (b),

wherein said method is characterized in that it further comprises the step (d) of directly administering a rumen enzyme supplement to the ruminant, which means that said enzyme supplement is not used for wheat straw pretreatment.

Degradation is defined as the breakdown of feed by microorganisms in the reticulorum.

In the context of the present invention, the term “pre-treatment” refers to the treatment of wheat straw carried out before feeding it to an animal, said treatment being carried out by bringing a chemical solution into contact with the wheat straw.

Thus, the method of the invention improves the degradation of wheat straw when used to feed a ruminant.

In fact, the developed method makes the parietal components of wheat straw more accessible to the degrading enzymes of the ruminal microflora and improves the degradation of these components.

The degree of this degradation determines the digestibility in the digestive tract and, consequently, the energy value of the diet of the ruminant.

Digestibility is a criterion that determines the degree of absorption of organic matter by an animal. The higher the digestibility, the better the digestibility.

Moreover, by improving the degradation of wheat straw, the method of the invention also valorizes it better as an animal feed, since it is currently underutilized due to the difficulty of digestion by ruminants compared to other feeds.

Thus, the first step of the method according to the invention involves the provision of wheat straw.

Wheat straw is an agricultural product, which is part of the stem or crop residues of wheat. The wheat straw provided is the straw that is traditionally used by the animal feed specialist and can be supplied in a variety of forms, both in the form of straw bales and loose (bulk).

According to a specific embodiment of the invention, the straw may first be subjected to a mechanical treatment step, the purpose of which is to reduce the size of its fibers and provide both better accessibility of the fibers for subsequent treatments, and better degradation. According to this particular embodiment, the wheat straw may first be cut, chopped or split along the fibers, or else ground.

The second stage of the method according to the invention consists in carrying out a chemical pre-treatment of the wheat straw.

Chemical pre-treatment allows, in particular, to significantly reduce the rigidity of plant structures, swelling of the walls and their permeability for electrolytes and cellulolytic enzymes of rumen microflora. As a result, the micro-organisms can colonize the plant particles faster, which are then more quickly and more intensively decomposed, thus improving the degradation of the straw.

The chemical pre-treatment according to the method of the invention is a pre-treatment carried out using an alkaline solution, as traditionally carried out by a skilled person. For example, chemical pretreatment can be carried out using sodium hydroxide (NaOH), soda, lime, potassium hydroxide (KOH), anhydrous ammonia (NH ₃ ), aqueous ammonia (NH ₄ OH) or urea solution, or a mixture of these compounds. Preferably, the chemical pre-treatment is carried out in step (b) using a sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution.

In addition, the chemical pre-treatment can be carried out in various ways according to methods known to the person skilled in the art, whether industrial methods or not. For example, the chemical pretreatment may be carried out in a wet, semi-wet, semi-dry, or dry process. According to a specific embodiment of the invention, if the pre-treatment is carried out in a wet or semi-wet manner, then it can be carried out by spraying or impregnation.

Depending on the method by which preprocessing is carried out, the specialist

it is necessary to select the appropriate concentration of the alkaline solution as well as the incubation time after treatment (see Chenost & Kayouli. 2.3. Chemical treatments. In: Roughage utilization in warm climates. Rome, 1997. FAO Study - Animal Production and Veterinary Division - 135. ISBN 92-5-203981-3).

For pre-treatment with a soda solution in a semi-wet way, this solution can be concentrated from 1.6 to 5%, and then mixed at a rate of 1 to 3 l / kg of wheat straw. After 24 to 48 hours after mixing, wheat straw can be distributed to animals.

For semi-dry pre-treatment with a soda solution, it is necessary to develop a machine coupled with a tractor power take-off shaft for chopping and mixing straw. The soda solution is concentrated within the average concentration between semi-wet and dry methods - up to 12%, and then mixed in the machine with straw at a rate of 0.4 l / kg of straw. The duration of action of soda is approximately 8 days. Straw can be dried in the open air.

For dry pre-treatment, which is an industrial processing method, the soda solution is concentrated to a greater extent (16%). The solution is then mixed with chopped straw at a rate of approximately 0.3 l/kg of wheat straw. The latter is then passed through a stamping press. The improved action of soda occurs very quickly (from 20 seconds to about one minute) due to the high temperature and pressure in the press matrix.

Preferably, the chemical pretreatment is carried out in a semi-wet process.

At the end of the pre-treatment step, the method of the invention includes the step of feeding the animal with chemically treated straw.

This feeding stage is the traditional stage well known

livestock specialist. Animals are then fed pre-treated wheat straw. Preferably the animals are ruminants, such as, for example, cows or cattle.

The administration step consists in administering the enzyme supplement to the ruminant so that it enters the reticulorumen of said animal.

An example of administering an enzyme supplement is the oral route.

Said introduction step may be performed before, simultaneously with, or after the step of feeding the ruminant with chemically pre-treated wheat straw.

“Before” the feeding stage means at most 24 hours before the feeding stage. Thus, an enzyme supplement should never be given more than 24 hours before feeding chemically pretreated wheat straw. Preferably, the enzyme supplement is administered 2 to 8 hours before feeding chemically pre-treated wheat straw.

Likewise, "after" the feeding phase means at most 24 hours after the feeding phase. Thus, an enzyme supplement should never be administered more than 24 hours after feeding chemically pre-treated wheat straw. Preferably an enzyme supplement 2 to 8 hours after feeding chemically pre-treated wheat straw.

Preferably, the introduction step is carried out simultaneously with the feeding step.

Quite surprisingly, the inventors found that the step of directly administering (particularly orally) an enzyme additive to a ruminant significantly improves degradation and even creates a synergistic effect on degradation when wheat straw is chemically pretreated.

Very advantageous, and contrary to what has been known so far, the method

according to the invention can be used on farms on a large scale and very inexpensively, since the enzyme is not used in straw pretreatment, but is administered directly to the animal in the form of an enzyme supplement. This provides significant time and cost savings. In practice, the ruminal enzyme supplement is administered directly to the ruminant before, during, or after feeding chemically pretreated wheat straw, and it is no longer necessary to spray it on the entire supply of wheat straw or on the amount of wheat straw intended for immediate consumption. The method of the invention thus dispenses with the incubation time normally required for the enzyme to take effect when the latter is used in the pretreatment of wheat straw.

A rumen enzyme supplement for ruminants is a mixture of at least two enzymes. The enzymes used in the rumen enzyme supplement may be glucanases, xylanases, esterases, or carboxymethyl cellulases.

According to a specific embodiment of the invention, the ruminal enzyme supplement is a mixture of glucanase and xylanase, in particular endo-1,3(4)-beta-glucanase and endo-beta-1,4-xylanase.

Enzyme endo-1,3(4)-β-glucanase is a highly concentrated preparation of β-glucanase obtained by deep fermentation of a selective strain of Trichoderma reesei.

The enzyme endo-β-1,4-xylanase is a highly concentrated xylanase preparation obtained by deep fermentation of a selective strain of Trichoderma reesei.

According to the Enzyme Commission (EC) enzyme nomenclature:

- the enzyme endo-1,3(4)-β-glucanase has the code EC 3.2.1.6,

- the enzyme endo-β-1,4-xylanase has the code EC 3.2.1.8.

According to this embodiment, the dose of glucanase can be from

200 units/g straw to 7000 units/g straw, preferably from 4000 units/g straw to 6000 units/g straw, for example, the dose may be about 4670 units/g straw.

The dose of xylanase may be from 200 units/g straw to 7000 units/g straw, preferably from 4000 units/g straw to 6000 units/g straw, for example the dose may be about 4670 units/g straw.

Enzyme units correspond to the amount of enzyme required to:

- release of 1 micromole of glucose per minute at pH 4.8 and 50°C from barley glucan, a substrate for glucanase;

- release of 1 micromole of xylose per minute at pH 5.3 and 50°C from birch wood - a substrate for xylanase.

In the same embodiment, the glucanase may be an endo-1,3(4)-β-glucanase and the xylanase may be an endo-β-1,4-xylanase. In this case and preferably, the glucanase/xylanase ratio may be at least 0.5, preferably at least 0.75, and in particular about 1.

The enzyme supplement is in a form suitable for administration to an animal. For example, the enzyme supplement may be in the form of a capsule, bolus, powder, granule, or liquid such as, for example, in ampoules. Preferably the enzyme supplement is in powder form or liquid form, preferably in powder form.

A capsule is a solid preparation consisting of a hard or soft shell of various shapes and capacities.

A tablet or bolus is a solid preparation containing

a single dose of one or more active substances (or drug). Tablets are obtained by pressing a constant volume of particles. If the tablets are intended for cattle, they are larger and are then called boluses.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, when the ruminal enzyme supplement is administered simultaneously with the chemically pretreated wheat straw, said enzyme supplement may be in the form of a powder that is mixed with the chemically pretreated wheat straw. The resulting mixture is then used to feed the ruminant.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the ruminant belongs to the family Bovidae. The family of bovids (Bovidae) includes several subfamilies, in particular, the subfamily Bovinae (of which bovines are a part) and the subfamily Caprines (of which sheep and goats are a part).

The improvement in wheat straw degradation can be determined by methods known to those skilled in the art, such as, for example, measurement of dry matter loss by incubation in rumen fluid. Measurement details are provided below in the Examples section.

The method according to the invention is particularly advantageous because it surprisingly provides a synergistic effect of the enzyme additive and the chemical pre-treatment of wheat straw on the degradation of wheat straw.

In fact, the impact on rumen degradation is greater than the sum of the combined effects of chemical pretreatment and enzyme supplementation alone.

To date, no method is known that improves degradation to a level equivalent to the improvement achieved by the method according to the invention.

It is known to use chemical pretreatment, and in particular alkaline pretreatment, to treat wheat straw in order to improve its digestibility.

It is also known to use enzymatic pretreatment to improve digestibility.

Until now, the treatments applied to straw, whether chemical or enzymatic, were essentially pre-treatments in the sense that they were carried out before ingestion of animal feed as a pre-treatment of the wheat straw itself.

Enzymatic pre-treatment is known to improve the digestibility of straw by animals, but this type of pre-treatment has hardly ever been used because it is too expensive to spray or pre-treat all batches of straw to be fed to the animal. The aim of these pre-treatments was to achieve a better potentization of the food source, which had been little valorized until today. However, the use of enzymatic pretreatments, even though they were of interest in terms of improving digestibility, was not practiced in the agricultural community, because the necessary costs of enzymatic pretreatment are not offset by profits in animal feed.

It has already been confirmed in the prior art that a combination of chemical and enzymatic pre-treatment of straw can improve the digestibility of straw and even provide a synergistic effect. However, due to the costs of in situ or ex vivo enzymatic pre-treatment of wheat straw, the combination of the two pre-treatments has never been applied on a farm scale and has so far been considered unacceptable by those skilled in the art.

Therefore, the advantage of the present invention is that it has been possible to develop a method that improves the decomposition of straw, and this method can be implemented at the scale of an animal farm without additional work or risky additional costs. On the contrary, the method according to the invention potentiates the use of wheat straw and thus allows the animals

it is better to digest this food, which sometimes constitutes one of the main resources.

Thanks to the method according to the invention, the wheat straw is better valorized and it will be easier for the farms to strive for self-sufficiency in forage without significant additional costs.

The second object of the invention relates to the direct use by ruminants of a rumen enzyme supplement before, after or simultaneously with feeding said ruminant with wheat straw first subjected to alkaline pretreatment, preferably simultaneously with feeding said ruminant, which means that said enzyme supplement was not used in pretreatment. wheat straw.

Said cicatricial enzyme supplement is an enzyme mixture containing at least two enzymes. The enzymes used in the enzyme supplement may be glucanases, xylanases, esterases, or carboxymethyl cellulases.

In a specific embodiment, the ruminal enzyme supplement is a mixture of glucanase and xylanase, and in particular endo-1,3(4)-beta-glucanase and endo-beta-1,4-xylanase.

In accordance with this option, the dose of endo-1,3(4)-β-glucanase can be from 200 units/g straw to 7000 units/g straw, preferably from 4000 units/g straw to 6000 units/g straw, for example, approximately 4670 units/g straw.

Similarly, the dose of endo-β-1,4-xylanase can be from 200 units/g straw to 7000 units/g straw, preferably from 4000 units/g straw to 6000 units/g straw, e.g. about 4670 units/g straw..

Preferably the ratio of endo-1,3(4)-β-glucanase to endo-β-1,4-xylanase is at least 0.5, preferably at least 0.75, particularly preferably about 1.

The ruminal enzyme supplement is in a form suitable for administration to an animal. For example, the enzyme supplement may be in the form of capsules, bolus, powder, granules, or liquid such as, for example, ampoules. Preferably the enzyme supplement is in powder form or liquid form, preferably in powder form.

The use according to the invention is particularly advantageous since it improves the degradation of wheat straw in the rumen. Moreover, the simultaneous application creates a synergistic effect in the cicatricial degradation of wheat straw.

The invention will be better understood with the help of the following examples, which are purely illustrative and are not in any way limiting.

figures

Fig.1. Comparative evaluation of the effects of aqueous (H ₂ O) alone or alkaline (NaOH, 5%) pretreatment, or enzyme supplementation alone (denoted as ((GP + XP) x 10) or a combination of alkaline pretreatment and enzyme supplement (denoted as ((NaOH , 5% + (GP + XP) x 10)) on wheat straw dry matter breakdown (in percent (%) digestibility/breakdown of wheat straw dry matter).

The two dotted lines represent respectively the digestibility/dry matter degradation value of wheat straw pretreated with soda (NaOH, 5%) (upper line) and not pretreated (control (C)) (lower line).

Examples

Materials and methods

1. Preparation of fermentation modules

Wheat straw was chopped into 2 cm pieces (straw chopper from Electra) and then fines (dust) was removed using a 1.18 mm sieve (particle separator from Penn State).

Thereafter, fractions (3 g) were weighed three times and placed in bottles equipped with a pressure measurement module (from Ankom Technology).

2. Preprocessing

Straw pre-treatment was carried out in a semi-wet method for 24 hours before incubation with ruminal fluid. Two types of pretreatment were used - pretreatment with water (control) and chemical pretreatment.

Pretreatment with water served as a negative control. In fact, the pre-treatment was carried out with a solution of soda in water. Thus, both (i) a negative control pretreated with water only and (ii) a negative control without pretreatment were needed in order to separate the effects of water pretreatment and soda pretreatment, and thus be able to draw a specific conclusion about the effect of applying soda for pretreatment.

Chemical pre-treatment is carried out by bringing the wheat straw into contact with a 5% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution. 9 ml of solution were used based on 3 g of wheat straw.

3. Additive

To recreate in vivo conditions for the co-administration of wheat straw and an enzyme supplement according to the method of the invention, the supplement was added to the modules during incubation with rumen fluid.

The enzyme supplement is a 1:1 mixture of two enzymes:

- endo-1,3(4)-beta-glucanase (hereinafter - GP), having an activity of 70,000 units / g and

- endo-beta-1,4-xylanase (hereinafter - XP), having an activity of 70,000 units / g.

Enzyme units correspond to the amount of enzyme needed to:

- release of 1 micromole of glucose per minute at pH 4.8 and 50°C from barley glucan, a substrate for glucanase;

- release of 1 micromole of xylose per minute at pH 5.3 and 50°C from birch wood xylan, a substrate for xylanase.

Ten doses of enzyme blend ((GP+XP) x 10) corresponds to 0.4 g of enzyme

mixture/3 g straw, i.e. 0.2 g GP and 0.2 g XP per 3 g straw, i.e. 4670 units (rounded to the nearest tenth) GP and XP per gram of straw.

4. Obtaining rumen fluid for fermentation

Rumen contents were collected about 2 hours after feeding from dry cows with a rumen cannula; the feeding ration included wheat straw, corn silage and a mineral-vitamin supplement.

After collection, the scar content was filtered through a metal sieve with

cell size 1.6 mm to obtain scar fluid.

Then the rumen fluid was mixed with a buffer solution with pH = 7 (in a ratio of 1:1) to obtain an incubation medium. The latter was saturated with anoxic CO ₂ .

5. Preparation of fermentation modules

We prepared several modules and distributed them over 4 tests. The composition of the various modules and their distribution by tests are presented below.

Test 1: pre-treated wheat straw only

- 6 modules containing straw chemically pre-treated with an alkaline solution in accordance with the protocol of point 2 (see above);

- 3 modules containing straw pre-treated according to the indicated protocol of paragraph 2, but with the replacement of the alkaline solution with water;

- 3 control modules containing only straw (hereinafter referred to as C).

Test 2: unpretreated wheat straw + enzyme supplement (see point 3 above)

- 3 modules containing non-pretreated straw and 10X concentrated enzyme supplement ((GP+XP) x 10);

- 3 control modules containing only straw (hereinafter referred to as C).

Test 3: repeats test 2 to check and validate the results.

Test 4: pre-treated wheat straw (see point 2) and enzyme supplement (see point 3):

- 6 modules containing straw chemically pre-treated with an alkaline solution according to the protocol of point 2 and 10X concentrated enzyme supplement ((GP+XP) x 10);

- 3 control modules containing only straw (hereinafter referred to as C).

In each of the tests, unpretreated straw corresponds to straw pretreated according to the same protocol as in point 2, but replacing the alkaline solution with water.

For each test, 3 empty modules were prepared. They contained only the incubation medium as described in paragraph 4 of this example.

Each incubation bottle was filled with 200 ml of incubation medium and then saturated with anoxic CO ₂ . The amount of pretreated and non-pretreated straw in each module was 3 grams.

6. Decomposed dry matter measurement

The bottles were incubated at 39°C for 96 hours for fermentation.

After 96 h of incubation, the modules were placed on ice to stop fermentation. The amount of undecomposed dry matter was measured by filtering and drying the incubation residue at 60°C for 4 days (hereinafter referred to as the residue).

The incubated substrate corresponded to pretreated and non-pretreated wheat straw.

Dry matter digestibility (in percent (%)) was calculated using the following formula:

[incubated substrate - (residual incubated substrate - residue in the control module)] / incubated substrate x 100.

The results for modules of the same treatment are the average, whether it is incubated substrate, remains of incubated substrate or control module.

7. Statistical analysis

The results of the decomposition of dry matter (in percent (%)) were subjected to analysis of variance using a linear general one-dimensional model of the software for statistical data analysis SPSS® (IBM®, SPSS®, version 22). The model integrates the effects of covariate and products, with the covariate being the dry matter decay of the controls (in percent (%)). For analysis, a log10 conversion of values expressed as a percentage was carried out.

Results were considered statistically insignificant if P > 0.05.

Different letters used for designation - a, b, c - show whether the values are significantly different or not. Thus, the results were considered as not significantly different if they were denoted by the same letter (P>0.05).

results

Effects of Alkaline Pretreatment and Enzyme Supplementation

Fig. 1 indicates a significant effect on the breakdown of dry matter in the rumen of the use of an enzyme supplement in combination with wheat straw pretreated with soda (NaOH (5%) + (GP + XP) x 10).

The results show that pretreatment with soda (5%) improves straw degradation in the rumen compared to (i) [no pretreatment] and (ii) [pretreatment with water]. Thus, these results confirm the direct effect of soda used for pre-treatment on the disintegration of straw in the rumen.

Pre-treatment with soda improves the breakdown of dry matter in the rumen by 22.3 divisions compared to untreated wheat straw (control).

However, a significant increase in dry matter decomposition was not observed in the case of untreated straw in the presence of an introduced enzyme additive ((GP + XP) x 10) compared to untreated wheat straw (control).

In contrast to this, which is quite surprising, the use of an enzyme supplement

together with straw, chemically pre-treated with soda, provided a synergistic effect on the breakdown of dry matter in the rumen.

The synergistic effect is understood as the fact that the degree of degradation in the rumen of the animal of chemically pretreated wheat straw in the presence of an enzyme additive is higher than the degree of its ruminal decomposition when only chemical pretreatment is carried out, when only an enzyme additive is used, or when using a combination of two treatments, but working independently.

In fact, the use of an enzyme supplement ((GP + XP) x 10) coupled with wheat straw pre-treated with soda increases the indicated dry matter breakdown by 13.2 divisions respectively.

Thus, the method according to the invention is particularly advantageous in that it significantly improves the degradation of wheat straw in the rumen if the wheat straw has been subjected to a chemical pre-treatment.

Claims (20)

1. A method for improving the degradation of wheat straw in the rumen of a ruminant animal, comprising the following steps: a) provision of wheat straw, b) alkaline pre-treatment of said provided straw, c) feeding the ruminant with wheat straw pre-treated in step b), wherein said method is characterized in that it further comprises step d) of directly administering a rumen enzyme supplement to a ruminant animal, which means that said enzyme supplement is not used in the pretreatment of wheat straw, wherein said ruminal enzyme supplement is a mixture of enzymes containing at least two enzymes selected from glucanases, xylanases, esterases, or carboxymethyl cellulases. 2. The method according to p. 1, characterized in that the alkaline pre-treatment is carried out using sodium hydroxide, soda, lime, potassium hydroxide, anhydrous ammonia, an aqueous solution of ammonia or a solution of urea, or a mixture of these compounds; preferably, the alkaline pretreatment is carried out using a sodium hydroxide solution. 3. Process according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the alkaline pretreatment is carried out in a wet, semi-wet, dry or semi-dry process, preferably in a semi-wet process. 4. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-3, characterized in that step d) direct administration of the cicatricial enzyme supplement is carried out orally. 5. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-4, characterized in that step d) of introducing a ruminal enzyme supplement is carried out before, after or simultaneously with step c) of feeding the ruminant with pretreated wheat straw, preferably simultaneously with step c). 6. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-5, characterized in that the mixture of enzymes contains glucanase and xylanase, preferably endo-1,3(4)-β-glucanase and endo-β-1,4-xylanase. 7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that endo-1,3(4)-β-glucanase is present at a dose of 200 units/g straw to 7000 units/g straw, preferably from 4000 units/g straw up to 6000 units/g straw, even more preferably 4670 units/g straw. 8. The method according to p. 6, characterized in that endo-β-1,4-xylanase is present at a dose of from 200 units/g straw to 7000 units/g straw, preferably from 4000 units/g straw to 6000 units ./g of straw, even more preferably 4670 units/g of straw. 9. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that endo-1,3(4)-β-glucanase and endo-β-1,4-xylanase are present in the enzyme mixture in a ratio of at least 0.5, preferably in a ratio at least 0.75, even more preferably in a ratio of 1:1. 10. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-9, characterized in that the cicatricial enzyme supplement is in the form of a powder or liquid form, preferably in the form of a powder. 11. The method according to any one of paragraphs. 1-10, characterized in that the ruminant belongs to the family Bovidae. 12. The use of a rumen enzyme supplement in a ruminant before, after or simultaneously with feeding said ruminant with wheat straw first subjected to alkaline pretreatment, preferably simultaneously with feeding said ruminant, which means that said enzyme supplement is not used for wheat straw pretreatment, moreover said cicatricial enzyme supplement is a mixture of enzymes containing at least two enzymes selected from glucanases, xylanases, esterases, or carboxymethyl cellulases. 13. The use of a scar enzyme supplement according to claim 12, characterized in that said enzyme mixture contains glucanase and xylanase, preferably endo-1,3(4)-β-glucanase and endo-β-1,4-xylanase. 14. Use according to claim 13, characterized in that endo-1,3(4)-β-glucanase is present at a dose of 200 U/g straw to 7000 U/g straw, preferably from 4000 U/g straw up to 6000 units/g straw, even more preferably 4670 units/g straw. 15. Use according to claim 13, characterized in that endo-β-1,4-xylanase is present at a dose of from 200 U/g straw to 7000 U/g straw, preferably from 4000 U/g straw to 6000 U ./g of straw, even more preferably 4670 units/g of straw. 16. Use according to claim 13, characterized in that endo-1,3(4)-β-glucanase and endo-β-1,4-xylanase are present in the enzyme mixture in a ratio of at least 0.5, preferably in a ratio at least 0.75, even more preferably in a ratio of 1:1.

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