Effect of alkaline and sonication pretreatments on the rumen degradability of date palm seeds

The main objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of chemical treatment and sonication (ultrasound) processing on the fiber composition and rumen degradability of date palm seeds (DPS). In the first trial, the effects of incubation or sonication in 4% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) on DPS fiber content and ruminal degradability were evaluated. Relative to untreated seeds, the ruminal degradability of DPS neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and organic matter (OM) increased (P 0.05). In the third trial, the effects of subjecting DPS to sonication in different NaOH solutions (1%, 2%, 4% NaOH) were evaluated. Relative to untreated seeds, the rumen degradability of seeds’ NDF and OM increased with all NaOH concentrations but was highest (P < 0.05) with the 4% NaOH. In conclusion, our results showed that treating DPS with 4% NaOH increased the seeds’ ruminal degradability, and subjecting DPS to sonication further improved their degradability in the rumen.