Replacement of corn by glycerine and vegetal oils (cashew and castor oils) as alternative additives feeds in diets of Purunã bulls finished in feedlot

Abstract Glycerine a co-product from the biodiesel industry and cashew and clove oils could be an alternative food for replacing corn as an energy source and synthetic additives commonly used in feedlot diets. This work was realized to study the effects of replacing corn grain with glycerine and vegetal oils (nut shell liquid and castor oils) on animal performance, feed intake, feed efficiency and apparent digestibility of Puruna bulls finished in feedlot. A total of 32 Puruna bulls (¼ Aberdeen Angus + ¼ Caracu + ¼ Charolaise + ¼ Canchim) with a mean age of 32 ± 2.0 months and a mean body weight 206.1 ± 20.0 kg were distributed in a completely randomized design with four diets and eight replications per diet. The four experimental diets were as follows: CONT – basal diet; VOIL –basal diet and addition of vegetable oils (3 g/animal/day); GLYC – basal diet and addition of glycerine (20.1% glycerine on a DM basis); GLVO – basal diet and addition of glycerol (20.1% glycerine in DM basis) and vegetal oils (3 g/animal/day). Final body weight and average daily gain were similar (P > 0,05) among bulls from four diets. There was an increase (P 0.04) among the four diets. The GLYC and VOIL diets reduced (P