The biomass quality of Crambe cordifolia, and its potential application

Abstract

The objective of this research was to evaluate the biomass quality of introduced species Crambe cordifolia Steven, Brassicaceae family native to the Caucasus.

The Crambe cordifolia plant was collected the third year of vegetation in flowering stage, from experimental field of the NBGI, Chisinau, Moldova. The

quality of the green mass has been determined by near infrared spectroscopy technique, using the PERTEN DA 7200 at the R&D Institute for Grasslands, Braşov,

Romania. The nutritional value and energy supply of the feed and the biochemical methane potential of substrates were calculated according to standard procedures. The theoretical ethanol potential was calculated based of cellulose and hemicellulose content in dry stems after harvesting the seeds and its conversion of hexose and pentose sugars.

Results revealed that dry matter of whole plant contained 161 g/kg CP, 304 g/kg CF, 100g/kg ash, 330g/kg ADF, 504 g/kg NDF, 54 g/kg ADL, 97 g/kg TSS, 276g/kg Cel, 174 g/kg HC with nutritive and energy value 63.2% DDM, RFV=117, 10.21 MJ/kg ME and 6.23 MJ/kg NEl.