?What is molasses and its profits
Molasses is actually a word of Greek origin and means honey-like syrup. In fact, molasses syrup is left over from the last stage of crystallization during the sugar production process and is a viscous substance. This substance is one of the cheapest sources of carbohydrates that have a lot of sugar. In addition, it contains water, protein, vitamins niacin, pantothenic acid and pyridoxine for instance, amino acids, organic acids, and heavy metals such as iron, zinc, copper, manganese, calcium, potassium, and also antioxidant. [12]
Sugar beet molasses
Molasses is a brown liquid (liquor) with high consistency resulting from sugar extraction; But this is not a precise definition of molasses, in fact, in sugar beet, molasses is extracted from the deep roots of the plant, but in sugarcane, molasses is separated from the medullary tissues of the trunk, so the resulting molasses are generally similar but with different organoleptic and nutritional characteristics like different flavor. According to FAO, Brazil, India and Thailand are the most important producers of sugarcane with the production amount of 33, 28 and 12 million tons of sugarcane respectively in two years. Africa with 11 million tons, China with 10 million tons, and the United States with 7 million tons are in the middle position. Europe has also maintained the first rank in the production of this product by producing 17 million tons of sugar beet. The net energy of molasses obtained from sugar beet is 1746 kcal and in the case of sugarcane it is 1616 kcal per kilogram of dry matter. Sugarcane molasses has a lower DCAD than sugar beet molasses (4.47 milli equivalents Vs. 53.94 milli equivalents per 100 grams of molasses), thus nutritionists should consider to it for different stages of livestock’s life. [10]
Sugarcane molasses
Producing molasses is average 2-5 tons per 100 tons of sugarcane, and thus, taking into account the yield of 100 tons per hectare, in a 12,000-hectare sugarcane unit, more than 40,000 tons of molasses are produced annually. As a result, by producing more than the consumption of this substance, in many developing countries, a huge part of molasses is exported or molasses is used as a fertilizer along with irrigation, as a quality modifier of acidity and electricity of water. Normally, this fertilizer is used in sugarcane fields, which increases the yield of sugarcane and sugar production. [3]
Molasses has a high viscosity about 6.5 to 8 Pascal at 40°C and has about 50% sucrose, and 15% to 20% water; As a result, it has a very high dry matter. The nutritional composition of molasses varies in different years due to some reasons such as the type of sugar beet, the method of sugar extraction, the climate of beet growth, factory conditions, clarification method, the amount of crystallization during boiling, etc. The average sugar in beet is 16 to 18 percent, of which 13 to 14 percent is separated as sugar and the rest enters the molasses composition. As a result, to evaluate the quality of molasses, they consider many factors such as the amount of sugar (sucrose), invert, amino acids (protein), etc. [4]
The use of molasses in the food industry
One of the important and low uses of molasses is the natural caramel color extraction from it, which is used in soft drinks and food colors in food factories. As a result of the refining process of raw sugar beet or sugarcane syrup, colored substances are produced including caramel, melanin, as well as regenerating sugars such as glucose and fructose. The importance of using such dyes is that they are non-carcinogenic, while some chemical dyes allowed for food are carcinogenic and have been forbidden in the European Union for several years. [2]
In 1987, in order to increase the nutritional value of bread, molasses was added to bread flour at the rate of 3 grams per 100 grams. As a result, the amount of potassium, calcium and iron in bread increased and the bread tasted better. In 2008, 10-15% molasses was added to the bread flour, although the breads had a better taste, but their volume decreased and their color changed. [4]
Usually, some of this substance is used for human consumption, but most of it is used in various industries such as animal feed, yeast production, fermentation industry such as citric acid production, alcohol production, and pharmaceutical production; Almost 17% of the molasses produced in Iran is used to produce alcohol. Among the other non-animal uses of molasses, use in bakery as a natural sweetener in oil cakes, recently it has been shown that the use of molasses in cakes, without changing the color of the cake shell and its pH, makes lighter the inner color of the cake, its volume More and less moisture of the cake. [1]
Due to the development of deserts and the destruction of pastures, a significant part of the feed resources of ruminant livestock has been concentrated on the pasture of agricultural fields, grain straw, and other by-products of agricultural industries. Such feeds are often coarse and require supplementation to compensate for non-fiber nutrients. Molasses is one of the by-products of sugarcane and is an easily accessible, cheap energy source and a suitable carrier for urea and palatable ration enhancer. Little use of molasses in ruminant feed is due to its liquid nature, difficulty in storage, transportation and high viscosity of molasses.
Supplementing molasses with an inexpensive source of protein such as urea can provide energy and fermentable nitrogen. In livestock farms, this mixture is used in the form of brick-like blocks, which solves the problems related to the storage and consumption of liquid molasses. In addition, in these blocks, you can use anti parasitic drugs, etc., of course, molasses and urea are the fixed components of these blocks, and other compounds such as fodder, drugs, adhesives, etc., are considered variable components. Consider the hardness and resistance of the blocks in terms of transportation, maintenance and consumption is very important. It seems that the resistance value of 5-6 kg/cm2 is suitable for using blocks. The degree of hardness should be such that a large animal consumes 700 grams / day. [6]
It is very important to pay attention to the production of propionic acid in the digestive system due to the growth of rumen villi in feeding the calf. Molasses is quickly converted into propionate and butyrate due to its fast-fermenting carbohydrates. The palatability of molasses is one of the parameters that increase feed consumption and decrease weaning age in parallel with proper growth of calves. Usually, 5-10% of molasses is added to the ration of calves before weaning up to 70 days old. [7]
Animal molasses
Another method of using molasses in livestock farms is add to silage. As you know, live yeasts such as different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are used for better and faster fermentation of silages. Molasses improves the performance of yeast by fast-fermenting sugar. Molasses, as a silage additive, increases the dry matter and lactic acid of the silage and reduces the pH and ammonia nitrogen level of the silage; In addition, it reduces leachate from silage and may reduce total dry matter losses. The amount of molasses used in silage depends on the plant species. For example, in corn silage, the amount of at least 30 kg of molasses per ton of corn stalks and corn leaves, and in the silage of the Atriplex plant, which has salty growing environment and leaves like alfalfa, is used about 10 to 15 percent along with yeast and urea. Of course, the determination of these values also depends on the dry matter of molasses. [5 and 8]
NRC 1996 showed that organisms fermenting soluble sugars produced approximately 18% more microbial protein than organisms fermenting high-moisture corn starch. Molasses in liquid or dry form is a suitable source of soluble sugars for feeding dairy cows. In dairy cows, the use of 8% dry molasses in a complete ration containing 42% sugar and 22% ADF (alternate to 8% grain corn in the ration) increases feed intake, increases milk production, milk protein and FCM; However, there is no difference in body weight changes compared to the animal that received ration without molasses. As a result, all the excess feed energy is used for milk production and its composition. Liquid molasses with 3% replacement instead of corn with high moisture in the form of mixing with complete feed, causes changes in feed consumption, milk production and milk protein percentage. But using more of it does not make any changes compared to the ration without molasses. This decrease in relative performance is due to the increase in feed intake, which does not have a linear relationship with the increase in production and its composition. [11]
In animal husbandry, molasses has a special place in the category of cows during the transition period, during this period, the animals usually have a diet with a lot of straw and little feed so that the cow can give birth with the least risk. The major problems in these rations are the strong cattle tendency to sort the straw from the complete feed; And in addition, the consumed straw with a long shelf life in the rumen causes excessive restrictions in the consumed feed. At this time, it is usually recommended to use molasses in the ration of cows during the transition period, because it prevents separation of the ration, and by having soluble sugar, it significantly helps the bacteria digesting the straw fiber, thus improving the amount of feed consumption. During this period, 1 kg of molasses is usually considered per head of livestock every day. In addition, it should be considered that the animal consumes the feed containing molasses in less time, and more time spend to rumination and rest, as a result, it will have less metabolic problems after delivery. [13]
Of course, it should be considered that the increase in feed consumption is accompanied by a decrease sorting with the addition of liquid molasses to the diet. Also, molasses increases the consumption of NDF. Researchers illustrated that 5-7% of the consumed feed should be fermentable sugars (six carbons), these sugars can increase more the amount of feed intake compared to when it is made from 5 carbon sugars (such as ribose and asyxylose, which are in wheat fermentation products, processed feeds and silages are found). In this way, molasses can increase the economic margin of animal husbandry by making the diet palatable, reducing the sorting of feed components, providing fast-fermenting soluble sugar, helping to produce more butyrate and propionate in the rumen, and providing some of the required minerals and vitamins. [9]
References:
1. Banafsheh Aghamohammadi, M. Honarvar, B. Ghiyasi Tarzi, B. Delkhosh, the effect of using molasses as a substitute for sugar on dough characteristics, volume and color of oil cake, 2013, Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences, Year 10, Number 4, 21-15.
2. Javad Karamet, S. Malek, separating caramel color from sugar beet molasses and investigating its characteristics and application in food industry, 2018, Journal of Agricultural Sciences and Techniques and Natural Resources, Volume 5, Number 1, 175-187.
3. Hamidreza Behrvan, the effect of applying different levels of molasses and urea fertilizer on the quantitative and qualitative yield of sugarcane, 1386, Proceedings of the 10th Iran Soil Science Congress, 886-887.
4. Aliyeh Hashemi, M. Honarvar, S. M. Seydin Ardabili, H. Behamdi, Investigating the effect of adding molasses on the rheological characteristics of dough and the quality of toast, 2019, Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences, Year 11, Number 2, 47-54.
5. Mohammad Pasandi, R. Kamali, A. Kavian, Use of sugar beet molasses to improve the fermentation of sweet corn stem and leaf silage, 2013, Journal of Animal Science, Research and Construction, No. 95.
6. Mohammad Reza Mashayekhi, K. Reza Yazdi, Use of molasses-urea block in the feeding of lactating buffaloes in Khuzestan province, 2014, Journal of Research and Construction, No. 68, 31-38.
7. Mehdi Mehrabadi, S. M. Hosseini, S. M. Davoudi, Effect of using Molasses in starter feed on performance, blood parameters and rumen fermentation of weanling calves, 2018, Applied Research Quarterly in Animal Science, No. 30, 63-73.
8. Narjes Neqabi, Q. Jalilvand, M. Yusuf-alllahi, K. Shojaian, Investigation of the effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast levels and molasses on the nutritional value of Atriplex Lentiformis ensiled by the nylon bag method, 2014, Animal Production Research Journal, 6th year, No. 12, 123-130.
9. Advantages of feeding a molasses based liquid feed, 2010, QLF. Ltd.
10. Attilio Luigi, E. Giaretta, L. Campidonico, P. Parazza, and A. Formigoni, A review regarding the use of molasses in animal nutrition, 2021, J. of mdpi, animal, 11: 115.
11. G. A. Broderick and W. J. Radloff, Effect of molasses supplementation on the production of lactating dairy cows fed diets based on alfalfa and corn silage, 2004, J. Dairy Sci. 87: 2997- 3009.
12. Hubert Olbrich, The Molasses, 2016, Fermentation technologist, Institute fur Zuckerindustrie, Berlin, Germany.
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Trevor DeVrise, Molasses can provide benefits to transition cows, 2021, Hoard’s Dairy Man, 29799, 1- 3
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