Protection of Canola (Low Glucosinolate Rapeseed) Meal and Seed Protein from Ruminal Degradation - Review -

Abstract

Canola meal and seed are poor sources of ruminal undegraded protein (RUP). On average, canola meal and canola seed contains 35 and 14% RUP, respectively. Several protection methods are effective in reducing ruminal degradation of canola protein and in increasing RUP without affecting total tract protein digestibility. Heat (e.g., dry heat, moist heat and jet-sploding) and chemical (e.g., formaldehyde) treatments are the most common methods used to reduce ruminal degradability of canola protein. In most cases, heat treatments were found to be more effective than chemical treatments in protecting canola protein form ruminai degradation. Despite improvement in RUP content and intestinal availability of RUP, data form several studies showed little or no improvement in animal performance as a result of increasing the RUDP level of canola meal and seed.