Ruminal phosphorus availability from several feedstuffs measured by the nylon bag technique.

The present study was aimed at determining rumen phosphorus availability of some feedstuffs assessed with the nylon bag technique: forage (alfalfa), cereals (control-C wheat, formaldehyde treated-FT wheat, barley, corn), cereal by-products (wheat bran, wheat distillers, corn distillers) and meals (C and FT soya bean meals, rapeseed meals and sunflower meals). Rumen phosphorus availability was not uniform amongst the feedstuffs, varying from 33.1% (FT rapeseed meal) to 84.7% (C wheat). Alfalfa phosphorus release kinetics showed high bacterial phosphorus contamination. Technological treatments affected phosphorus content of by-products by either increasing (wheat bran and distillers) or decreasing (corn distillers) after germ extraction from the seed. Formaldehyde treatment decreasing rumen phosphorus availability (from 77.2% vs. 89.4% for wheat to 33.1% vs. 64.4% for the rapeseed meal) may depreciate the phosphorus nutritional value of FT meals.