NUTRITIONAL EVALUATION OF RESIDUES OF THE CITRUS INDUSTRY IN TUCUMAN

ALBARRACÍN PATRICIA; PRIETO RICARDO; LLANOS CLAUDIA E.; GENTA HUGO; PAZ DORA; BARNES NORMA

Tafí del Valle

Jornada; XXVI Jornadas de Biología; 2009

Citrus factories process around 756,000 tons of lemon in Tucumán,registering an annual growth in the last decade of 8% of the amount of industrialized lemon. Essential oils, juice concentrates and dehydrated peel are the commercial products of the citrus industry. No usable residues (discarding) are generated; and at the moment they are dumped in sacrifice lands or on the basin of the Salí River, having already caused environmental problems. An alternative solutionis to transform the solid residues into balanced cattle feed, thus adding economic value to them. Consequently, the objective of this work is to study the nutritional value of the residues: peel, fine powder and filtrate of liquid effluents, to be able to use them in the formulation of balanced cattle feed. Analyses of determination of total carbohydrates, proteins, fats, nourishing fiber and power value, according to AOAC techniques, were made. High fiber content and low content of proteins and carbohydrates were found in all the samples analyzed. As a conclusion, it would be possible to turn these residues into balanced cattle feed by adding to them the nutrients they lack.