Feed is the most important cost in animal production. The objective of this research was to compare the drying methods stove or microwave and the effect on the composition of different raw materials. Six feeds commonly used in animal production in Ecuador were studied: corn (Zea mays), soybean meal (Glycine max L.), green reject (Musa × paradisiaca), corn silage, alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and ryegrass ( lolium perenne). 40 samples were analyzed in each food, each sample was divided into 2 subsamples, one for drying in an oven and another in a microwave oven, a bromatological analysis was carried out on the subsamples; Crude protein (Pb), ethereal extract (EE), crude fiber (Fb) and ash. An analysis of variance and Tukey's test (p<0.05) were used to determine differences between means. The results show that there are differences (p<0.05) in the content of (DM); however, bromatological differences depend on the type of food.La alimentación es el costo más importante en la producción animal. El objetivo de esta investigación fue comparar los métodos de secado en diferentes forrajes para la obtención de materia seca, horno con convección de aire (HC) y horno microondas (HM), y su efecto sobre la composición nutricional de cada forraje. Se estudiaron seis forrajes comúnmente utilizados en la producción animal: maíz duro amarillo (MA) (Zea mays), pasta de soya (PS) (Glycine max L.), rechazo de verde (RV) (Musa × paradisiaca), ensilaje de maíz (EM) , alfalfa (AL) (Medicago sativa) y raigrás perenne (RP) (Lolium perenne). Se analizaron 40 muestras de cada forraje, cada forraje fue secado en HC, así como en HM y se estimó el contenido de materia seca (MS), luego se le realizó un análisis bromatológico; Proteína bruta (Pb), extracto etéreo (EE), fibra bruta (Fb) y cenizas. Se utilizaron un análisis de varianza y prueba de Tukey (p<0.05) para determinar diferencias entre medias. Los resultados demuestran que existen diferencias (p<0.05) en el contenido de (MS), siendo el HM quien alcanza un mayor nivel de MS en MA, PS, RV y AL, el RP tuvo valores más altos con el HC mientras que en el EM el contenido de MS no varía con los métodos de secado. Los métodos de secado tuvieron incidencia en la composición química de los forrajes, así por ejemplo de los 6 forrajes analizados en la Pb se observó diferencias en 5, Fb en 3, EE en 1 y cenizas en 4.
Livestock feeding is the most important cost in animal production. The objective of this research is to compare the drying methods on different forages for obtaining dried matter, convection oven (CO) and microwave oven (MO), and the effect of each method on the nutritional composition of each forage. Six types of forages, commonly used in animal production, were studied: yellow hard corn (YC) (Zea mays), soybean paste (SP) (Glycine max L.), banana reject (BR) (Musa × paradisiaca), corn silage (CS), alfalfa (AL) (Medicago sativa) and perenial ryegrass (PR) (Lolium perenne). 40 samples of each forage were analized, each forage was dried using CO and MO, and the dried matter content was estimated, then a bromatological analysis was done. Crude protein (Cp), ethereal extract (EE), crude fiber (Cf) and ashes. A variance analysis and tukey test (p<0.05) were used to determine differences between means. Results show that differences (p<0.05) exist in the content of DM, being that MO reaches the highest level of DM in YC, SP, BR and AL, the PR had higher values with the CO while in the CS the content of DM does not vary with the drying methods. The drying methods had incidence on the chemical composition of forages, for example of the six forages analized in the Cp differences were observed in 5, Cf in 3, EE in 1 and ashes in 4
