Quality assessment of corn batches received at a feed mill in the Brazilian cerrado

This study aimed at investigating factors that contribute to changes in the quality of corn used in compound poultry feeds. Samples were collected from 6488 bulk cargos received at a feed mill located close to Brasília, Brazil. The parameters studied were divided into two groups: those related to corn chemical composition, including crude protein (% CP), ether extract (% EE), crude fiber (% CF), nitrogen-free extract (% NFE), and estimated metabolizable energy (ME), and corn physical characteristics, including density, moisture, and grain physical damage. High coefficients of determination (R²) and low coefficients of variation (CV) were determined for the chemical and physical parameters. The analysis of variance showed low to medium R². Month, year, supplier, and their interactions influenced (p <0.05) all chemical properties, as well as density, moisture, and ME. Physical characteristics were less affected by those factors, except for quantity of damaged grains. The principal component analysis separated the physical and chemical factors. The coefficients of the first component explained 54% of the total variation between variables. The first principal component showed that NFE and ME increased as humidity decreased. The second component also showed a decrease of physical problems due to reduction in humidity. Results indicate that the feed mills should take preventive measures when selecting suppliers, and diets should be formulated according to the differences in chemical and physical composition of corn supplied in different months and years

LEACHING TEST OF VITRIFIED FLY ASH AND CERAMIC SLAG FROM AN INCINERATOR OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE (MSW) TREATED WITH Ca(OH)2 AT DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS AND WITH MARLSTONE

A public property site, situated on an alluvial terrace of the Idice Stream (Emilia Romagna Region-Italy) was contaminated by a layer of waste, constituted by vitrified fly ashes and ceramic materials produced by an incinerator of municipal solid waste. The waste had high contents of heavy metals which exceeded the Italian legal concentration limits for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn (D. Lgs. 152/06, all. 5, tab.1). The in-situ remediation of the area was possible. In this study, alternative materials than the Portland cement were tested for the environmental restoration and the further naturalization of the area. Leaching tests were carried out treating the ashes with different concentrations of hydrated lime (CaOH2) and also with lime at 20% concentration and smectic marlstone. At the end of the leaching test, most of the heavy metals in the waste were immobilized in the waste by the lime/marlstone treatment

LEACHING TEST OF VITRIFIED FLY ASH AND CERAMIC SLAG FROM AN INCINERATOR OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE (MSW) TREATED WITH Ca(OH)2 AT DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS AND MARLSTONE

A public property site, situated over an alluvial terrace of the Idice Stream (Emilia Romagna Region-Italy) has been contaminated by a layer of waste, constituted by vitrified fly ashes and ceramic materials produced by an incinerator of municipal solid waste. The waste have high contents of heavy metals and exceed the Italian Law Limits of concentration for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn (D. Lgs. 152/06, all. 5, tab.1). The in-situ remediation of the area was possible. In this study, alternative materials than the Portland cement has been tested for the environmental restoration and the further naturalization of the area. Leaching tests has been carried out treating the ashes with different concentrations of hydrated lime (CaOH2) and also with lime at 20% concentration and smectitic marlstone. At the end of the leaching test, most of the heavy metals in the waste has been immobilized by the lime/marlstone treatment

Utilization of Different Corn Fractions by Broilers

ABSTRACTThis study was conducted to evaluate the nutritional values of fractions of damaged corn. One hundred and eighty 22-d-old Cobb 500 male broilers were distributed in batteries according to a completely randomized design with six treatments of six replicates each. The treatments consisted of diets containing five corn fractions, classified as sound, fermented, insect-damaged, mold-damaged, or reference corn. The test diets consisted of 60% of reference diet + 40% of each corn fraction. Only the reference corn fraction included all the fractions at different proportions (0.8% fermented, 0.05% insect-damaged, 3.3% mold-damaged, and 95.85% sound grains). The method of total excreta collection was used to determine AMEn values and metabolizability coefficients of dry matter (MDM), crude protein (MCP), ether extract (MEE), and gross energy (MGE) of the reference corn and its fractions. The density values of the corn fractions were used to calculate the correlations among the evaluated parameters. The evaluated corn fractions presented different compositions values. The insect-damaged and mold-damaged grains presented higher CP level, lower density, and MDM and MCP coefficients compared with the other fractions. However, calculated AMEn values were not significantly different (p>0.05) among corn fractions. A low correlation between density and AMEn content (r<0.5), and a high correlation between density and MCP (r>0.8) were calculated. Although the evaluated corn fractions presented different nutritional values, there were no marked differences in their utilization by broilers