Effect of a supplement based on cocoa husk (Theobroma cacao) on the production and composition milk from grazing crossbred cows.

Background: nutritional alternatives from agro-industry byproducts that increase the productivity and sustainability of bovine production systems must be designed. Objective: to evaluate the effect of a cocoa husk-based supplement on the production and composition of milk from grazing crossbred cows. Methods: 10 Brown x Guzerat crossbreed cows‚ in the second third of lactation‚ with body weight and initial age of 450 ± 38 kg and 7 years‚ respectively‚ were used and distributed in a completely randomized design in two treatments and five repetitions. The treatments evaluated were control (not supplemented) and supplemented (2 kg/ animal/day of supplement). The supplement was composed of 25 % cocoa husk‚ 51 % wheat bran‚ 19 % ground corn grain‚ 2 % molasses‚ 1.60 % urea‚ 1 % dicalcium phosphate‚ and 0.4 % mineralized salt‚ and formulated to contain 19 % CP. The animals were subjected to 14 days of adaptation to the diet and experimental area‚ and 60 experimental days. Cows were housed in 8 paddock of 1 ha each (four paddocks for each treatment) uniformly covered with Brachiaria humidícola‚ provided with individual feeders and joint drinkers‚ in which they had free access to mineralized salt and water. To estimate milk production‚ the cows were milked daily at 6:00 a.m. manually and the milk produced was weighed immediately after milking. To evaluate the composition of the milk‚ individual samples were collected every 15 days. After collection‚ the samples were sent to the laboratory for analysis. Statistical significance was considered when p ≤ 0.05. Results: supplementation increased (p < 0.05) milk production (8.47 vs. 11.68 kg/d) ‚ and milk production corrected for 4 % fat (7.39 vs. 10.98 kg/d) in animals. Supplementation effected (p < 0.05) was verified on concentration of fat (3.15 vs. 3.60 %)‚ protein (2.84 vs. 3.09 %)‚ SNF (7.50 vs. 8.38 %)‚ and milk density (29.36 vs. 31.99 g/mL) in the milk. Additionally‚ an increase (p < 0.05) was observed in the concentration of lactose (4.26 vs. 4.57 %) and minerals (0.64 vs. 0.69 %) in the milk with supplementation. Conclusion: agro-industrial by-products supplementation improves production and composition milk from grazing crossbred cows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]