The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of difference dehydration temperatures of the brewer grain on chemical composition and ruminal degradation of dry matter and crude protein. The samples of the brewer grain were oven dried at the temperature of 50.2 (BC50), 100.5 (BC100), 134.1 (BC135) and 173.7ºC (BC174), and a control treatment, with the sample cold dehydrated, by a liophylization process (BCL). The ruminal degradation kinetics was estimated by the in situ technique with samples in nylon bags incubating in the rumen of sheep. Heating affected the fiber fraction and the increase in the hydration temperature resulted in higher neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent lignin (LIG) and crude protein associated to NDF (NDIP) and acid detergent fiber (ADIP) contents. The effective dry matter and crude protein degradation decreased with the dehydration temperature. The prediction equations showed that the nitrogen fraction associated to the neutral and acid detergent fiber were the principal factors to explain the effective dry matter and crude protein degradation.
brewers grain; ruminal degradability; dehydration temperature
