Animal Feed Science and Technology, 13 (1985) 83--91

83

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands

DIFFERENCES IN CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND DIGESTIBILITY

OF BEET AND CANE MOLASSES
A. STEG and J.M. VAN DER MEER

Institute for. Livestock Feeding and Nutrition Research, P.O. Box 160,
Lelystad (The Netherlands)
(Received 27 December 1983; accepted for publication 21 May 1985)

ABSTRACT
Steg, A. and van der Meer, J.M., 1985. Differences in chemical composition and
digestibility of beet and cane molasses. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol., 13: 83--91.
Digestibility of beet and cane molasses was tested in vivo with wether sheep at two
levels of inclusion of molasses in the ration (15 and 30%) as well as in vitro with rumen
fluid.
In vivo, cane molasses was less digestible than beet molasses, irrespective of the level of
inclusion in the ration. The level of inclusion of the molasses did n o t have a significant
effect on the calculated organic matter digestibility of the products. Increasing the ratio
of molasses to hay (or hay + sugar beet pulp) linearly increased in vitro OM digestibility
of the mixtures irrespective of the molasses type tested. Digestibility in vitro of cane
molasses was only slightly lower than that of beet molasses. Chemical characteristics of
both molasses are discussed in relation to possible explanations for the differences
between results obtained in vitro and in vivo.

INTRODUCTION

Official feedstuffs tables (Table I) show rather large differences in

chemical composition, and also in digestibility, of beet and cane molasses for
ruminants. According to English and French tables organic matter digestibility (Do M ) of cane molasses is at least as high as that of beet molasses. In
view o f the very low ash content, one m a y wonder, however, whether the
English b e e t molasses was really beet molasses. The Danish and D u t c h figures
suggest an appreciably lower DOM value for cane molasses than for beet
molasses. D u t c h data originate from a few digestibility trials with wether
sheep, and the difference in digestibility b e t w e e n cane and beet molasses was
supported by differences f o u n d in pigs (Rijpkema et al., 1975). The high
levels of inclusion of molasses in the sheep trials (30--50% of dry matter)
were criticized as n o t being practical and might have influenced the difference
b e t w e e n the molasses types. In this s t u d y 1 a series o f trials was performed

1This study was done in cooperation with, and partly sponsored by, the allied molasses
trading companies.

0377-8401/85/$03.30

1985 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

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TABLE I
Some tabulated figures concerning beet and cane molasses
Feed tables

Dry matter
(g/kg)

Beet molasses/cane molasses

United Kingdom
(A.D.A.S., 1975)
750]750
France
(I.N.R.A., 1978)
775]739
Denmark
(Andersen et al.,
1979)
770]700
Netherlands
(C.V.B., 1977)
764]738
Fed. Rep. Germany
(D.L.G., 1982)
770]737

In dry matter
(g/kg)

Digestibility
(%)

Ash

OM

CP

NFE

CP

69/87

47]41

87/88

34]35

90]90

116/123

103/56

89/91

60]60

93]93

.99]117

137165

94]87

71/47

98]90

1 1 0 1 1 0 2 140141

90]83

65]0

95]87

108]97

86]84

58/35

91187

131/50

to test cane and beet molasses at two levels of inclusion in the diet of sheep.
In vitro, additional information was collected over a wider range of molasses
to hay (+ sugar beet pulp) ratios.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Feeds
F o u r lots of 65 kg of cane molasses were collected from four molasses
trading companies and carefully mixed to form the test sample. For beet
molasses the sample was collected from one production site.
As basic feeds a good quality grass hay with a high protein c o n t e n t and
a batch of dried sugar beet pulp low in sugar c o n t e n t were selected.

Experiments with wethers

A series of digestibility trials with adult wether sheep (live weight a b o u t
90kg) was performed to test cane and beet molasses at two levels of
inclusion. Daily rations were:
A. 400 g grass hay, 400 g dried beet pulp + 400 g beet molasses;
B. 400 g grass hay, 400 g dried beet pulp + 400 g cane molasses;
C. 500 g grass hay, 500 g dried beet pulp + 200 g beet molasses;
D. 500 g grass hay, 500 g dried beet pulp + 200 g cane molasses.
For practical reasons two change over experiments were carried out, one
with 4 animals per t r e a t m e n t (400 g molasses) and one with 8 animals per

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t r e a t m e n t (200 g molasses). The latter n u m b e r of animals was considered

necessary because o f the low level of inclusion of the test feed in the ration.
The experimental periods lasted for 21 days, of which the first 11 days were
considered as an adaptation to the ration. Prior to period I, there was an
additional adaptation period of t w o weeks. The faeces produced in the last
ten days of each period were collected quantitatively, weighed and sampled
for chemical analysis. F o r each period at least 8 samples of each ration comp o n e n t were analysed. Molasses and beet pulp were mixed prior to feeding.
T h e digestibility of the hay and the dried sugar beet pulp was tested
separately.

Experiments in vitro
The molasses were tested in vitro (van der Meer, 1980), as such and after
mixing with grass hay or grass hay + sugar beet pulp at various ratios. Some
casein was added to the mixture with rumen juice to improve available N
content.
RESULTS

Chemical analysis
The chemical composition of the feeds is given in Table II. For beet
molasses, 27% of total N was present as betaine N and 33% in amino acids.
F o r cane. molasses these figures were 1 and 23%, respectively. As only small
T A B L E II
C o m p o s i t i o n o f p r o d u c t s s t u d i e d (g/kg d r y m a t t e r )

molasses

Cane
molasses

Grass
hay

D r i e d sugar
beet pulp

803
80
148
3
1
-n.a I
695
198
70

788
126
59
3
3
-n.a
639
151
22

893
114
214
31
271
564
301
n.a
-n.a

891
49
110
8
192
432
235
105
-n.a

52
1

1
1

n.a
n.a

n.a
n.a

Beet

D r y m a t t e r (g/kg)
Crude ash
C r u d e p r o t e i n (N 6 . 2 5 )
Hexane extract
Crude fibre
Neutral detergent fibre
Acid detergent fibre
Sugar
A n h y d r o u r o n i c acids
S u m o f a m i n o acids
Betaine

Ammonia
G r o s s e n e r g y ( M J / k g DM)
ln.a ~ not analysed.

16.6

15.1

18.0

17.8

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a m o u n t s o f NH 3 were recovered, for b o t h molasses t ypes t he origin of 7--8 g

N per kg dry m a t t e r was n o t determined. According t o HPLC-analyses, 87%
o f to tal sugars in beet molasses was sucrose and only traces o f fructose and
glucose were f o u n d . In cane molasses, besides sucrose (61%), significant
a m o u n t s o f fructose (18%) and glucose (13%) were found. Pectin-like comp o n e n t s were measured as their a n h y d r o uronic acids. T he col our developed
o n addition o f carbazole after hydrolysis with 0.5 M H2SO4 was measured
at 530 nm, calibrated against galacturonic acid and glucuronic acid. Although
this m e t h o d is sensitive f o r high fructose c o n t e n t s no such influence could be
proved.

Digestibility in vitro
T h e average results o f the two 'inclusion level' experi m ent s are given in
Table III. In addition, t h e average results o f tests o f cane and beet molasses
alone (averages o f 8 samples) are given.
TABLE III
Organic matter digestibility, in vitro, of hay/molasses and of hay/beet pulp/molasses
mixtures at different levels of inclusion of molasses
Molasses
inclusion (%)

0
10
30
50
70
100

Hay -{- molasses

Beet pulp (10%)-t-hay + molasses

Beet

Cane

Beet

80.0
82.9
86.4
90.7
97,2

82.2
86.7
89.4
93.1
--

77.1
79.5
82.9
87.9
91.1
98.6

Cane
79.7
81.1
84.8
87.1
92.5
--

T h e hay used was of very good quality, with high digestibility in vitro.
As e x p e c t e d , digestibility was still slightly higher with the c o m b i n a t i o n of
90% h ay and 10% sugar beet pulp. Inclusion of increasing a m o u n t s of
molasses led to increasing digestibility of t he total. In each o f the f o u r
comparisons the regression between DOM and level of molasses inclusion
(0--100%) was n o t significantly different f r o m linear. So, no clear associative
effects were f o u n d . In almost all comparisons cane molasses based mixtures
were slightly less digestible t ha n be e t molasses based mixtures, b u t the
difference was small. In our standard p r o c e d u r e f o r testing feeds in vitro, we
p r e dict digestibility in vivo f r o m digestibility in vitro with t he help of a
relationship f o r a series o f similar p r o d u c t s for which digestibility in vivo is
k n o w n (van der Meer, 1980). As no standard samples of a molasses t y p e
were available, calibration in this case was done with c o n c e n t r a t e m i xt ures

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and concentrate ingredients, ranging in D O M in vitro from a b o u t 60% to

a b o u t 92%, so in all cases below the digestibility of the molasses samples.
The predicted D O M in vivo was then 96.0 + 0.8 and 94.8 + 0.5% for beet and
cane molasses, respectively.

Digestibility in vivo
Net intake of dry matter was a b o u t 35 g per kg metabolic live weight per
day. Dally feed refusals were always less than 15 g/animal, these being
mainly small particles of soil originating from the hay. Digestibility values
were corrected for these refusals.
Mean OM-digestibility was 82.9, 80.0, 80.6 and 79.2 for the treatments A,
B, C and D, respectively. For each treatment, differences between animals
in level of OM-digestibility of total rations were very acceptable with
standard errors o f 1.23; 0.33; 0.47; 0.62 for the treatments A, B, C and D,
respectively.
Ration digestibility was significantly higher ( P ~ 0 . 0 5 ) with 4 0 0 g of
molasses than with 200 g (A versus C; B versus D). Rations containing beet
molasses were very significantly ( P ~ 0 . 0 0 5 ) more digestible than rations
containing cane molasses at the same level of inclusion. Interaction between
molasses type and level of inclusion was n o t significant.
The digestibility of the feed on test was calculated by assuming the
digestibility of the other ration c o m p o n e n t s to be identical to the average
o u t c o m e of the trial in which that specific ration c o m p o n e n t was tested. The
mean results are collected in Table IV. The data for the grass hay and the
sugar beet pulp agreed very well with the average OM-digestibility in vitro
(corrected as given by van der Meer, 1980) which were 70.3 + 0.5 and 87.3 +
0.6%, respectively.
There was no significant effect of the level of inclusion of either beet or
cane molasses in the ration on the calculated digestibility of organic matter,
crude protein, nitrogen-free extract or digestibility of energy.
Digestibility of organic matter, crude protein, N F E and GE was significantly higher (P ~ 0.025) for beet molasses than for cane molasses, when the
T A B L E IV
C a l c u l a t e d d i g e s t i b i l i t y (%) o f t h e f e e d s t u f f s t e s t e d ( M e a n s a n d SE)

Grass hay
Sugar beet pulp
B e e t m o l a s s e s B4
B2
C a n e m o l a s s e s C4
C2

OM

CP

69
87
92
91
83
82

73
66
81
71
25
17

+ 0.1
+ 0.6
+ 1.9
+ 1.1
+ 0.6
-+ 1.5

+
+
+
+
+
+

0.5
1.1
3.0
1.4
5.1
7.5

NFE

GE

68
90
95
95
88
87

65 + 0.4
8 4 -+ 0.7
91 + 2.1
90-+ 1.8
80 + 0.3
77 + 2.4

-+ 0.3
-+ 0 . 5
+ 1.8
+ 1.2
-+ 0.5
+ 1.5

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t w o levels o f irmlusion were t a ke n t o g e t h e r and for the 200 g inclusion level.
E x c e p t f o r crude protein, differences b e t w e e n beet and cane molasses at the
400 g inclusion level were n o t significant, possibly because of the small
n u m b e r o f animals used in t hat comparison.
Feeding values were calculated f or t he average data according to Van Es
(1978). Table V gives the results, calculated on an organic m a t t e r basis and
c o m p a r e d with ta bul a t e d data (Veevoedertabel, 1982).
TABLE V
Calculated protein and energy values of the two molasses types (per kg organic matter)
Beet molasses

g DCP
VEM

Cane molasses

Veevoedertabel

B4

B2

Veevoedertabel

C4

C2

97
1160

126
1197

111
1181

0
1039

17
1047

12
1032

DISCUSSION

Chemical composition
Ash c o n t e n t of the b e e t molasses studied was relatively low (average for
INI~A, Denmark, CVB and D L G a b o u t 110 g/kg dry matter) and of cane
molasses s o mewh a t higher t h a n tabulated. T he difference in ash c o n t e n t
enlarged the difference in sugar c o n t e n t on a dry m a t t e r basis. On an organic
m a t t e r basis the difference in t ot al sugar c o n t e n t was small (75 and 73% for
beet and cane molasses, respectively) which agreed well with the D u t c h
CVB-table. Almost 90% of t o t a l sugars in t h e beet molasses was recovered as
sucrose and o n ly small a m o u n t s were f o u n d of fructose and glucose. A b o u t
60% o f total sugars in cane molasses was f o u n d t o be sucrose and a b o u t
30% fructose + glucose. These data agree reasonably well with i n f o r m a t i o n
o f B.P. Baker (personal c o m m u n i c a t i o n , 1981) and Le Dividich et al. (1978).
So, in b o t h molasses t ypes the chemical characteristics of almost 10% of
t o t al sugars were n o t det er m i ned. According to Baker (1981), part of this
u n d e t e r m i n e d f ract i on is u n f e r m e n t a b l e sugars, which are n o t sugars, but
reducing agents, possibly f o r m e d by t he c o m b i n a t i o n of norm al reducing
sugars with nitrogen c o m p o u n d s . F o r b e e t molasses significant quantities of
raffinose should be present. In o u r analysis, however, only traces of raffinose
were f o u n d .
A b o u t 27% o f t ot a l N o f b e e t molasses was r e c o r d e d in betaine and a b o u t
33% in amino acids, leaving t he origin o f a b o u t 35% of the N unrecovered.
Most o f the N in cane molasses was n o t recovered in amino acids, so for b o t h
molasses ty p es th e origin o f 7--8 g N per kg dry m a t t e r was n o t known.

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The analyses performed allowed us to partition the organic matter of b o t h

molasses types in the following manner (%):
Sucrose
Fructose
Glucose
Betaine
Amino acids
Other substances

Beet molasses
66
1
1
6
8
18

Cane molasses
44
13
10
-3
30

According to Just, cited by El Khidir and Vestergaard Thomsen (1982), cane

molasses contains a b o u t 20% hemicellulose on a dry matter basis, and beet
molasses a b o u t 9%. When applying the NDF-analysis according to Van Soest
to our samples, however, only traces were f o u n d in both molasses types.
Analysis o f anhydro uronic acids explained the remaining part of the composition of beet molasses and for a great part also for cane molasses.
According to Baker (1981) in cane molasses also, significant amounts of
soluble gums and organic acids could be recovered and small amounts o f
waxes, sterols, etc. In the samples discussed amounts of other organic acids
were n o t significant.

Digestibility in vitro
Increasing the ratio of molasses to hay or to hay + sugar beet pulp
increased OM-digestibility of t h e mixtures linearly from zero up to 100%
molasses, irrespective of the molasses t y p e tested. This finding seems n o t to
agree with data of E1 Khidir and Vestergaard Thomsen (1982), who found a
curvilinear relationship b e t w e e n the ratio of cane molasses to hay and the
digestibility o f the mixtures after 48 hours of incubation in vitro: addition
of 10, 40 and 70% molasses to hay enhanced the digestibility of the mixture
slightly more than would be calculated from OM digestibility of the hay
(66.7%) and the cane molasses (97.5%), respectively. There is, however, an
appreciable difference in the digestibility o f the hay used, which in itself
could exert an influence on the existence of so-called associative effects. It
may be seen from the data o f E1 Khidir and Vestergaard Thomsen (1982)
that the largest associative effect was f o u n d after addition of 10% molasses to the hay, p r o b a b l y because of the stimulation of microbial activity
in the rumen juice.
Digestibility in vitro of molasses was very high, the beet t y p e being only
slightly higher than the cane type. The level of digestibility is comparable
with the data of E1 Khidir and Vestergaard Thomsen (1982). Because o f the
very high level of digestibility, for our data, calibration b y extrapolation instead of interpolation of in vitro to in vivo data was done, which is less correct.

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Digestibility in vivo
In contrast to the data obtained in vitro there was a clear-cut effect of
molasses t y p e on digestibility, t h a t o f cane molasses being lower than t h a t
of beet molasses, irrespective o f the level o f inclusion in the ration.
The level of inclusion of molasses in the ration did n o t have a significant
influence on the calculated digestibility of the test feed. For both products
the lowest level o f inclusion of molasses resulted in slightly but n o t
significantly lower digestibility of protein and energy. The digestibility of
nitrogen-free extracts for both beet and cane molasses was very much like
Dutch tabulated data. Digestibility of crude protein was slightly higher. For
beet molasses the tabulated Dcp is also lower than was determined in
another trial at 30% inclusion (Rijpkema et al., 1975). For cane molasses,
tabulated digestibility of crude protein according to Veevoedertabel is zero.
In previous trials Dcp was even negative (Rijpkema et al., 1975). The better
CP digestibility of the cane p r o d u c t tested may partly be explained by a
higher protein content. But even when the difference in protein c o n t e n t
between beet and cane molasses is taken {nto consideration, digestibility of
the crude protein in cane molasses is poor.
When beet and cane molasses are compared, the disagreement between
differences f o u n d in vitro and in vivo needs further consideration. As the
digestibility of both molasses types in rumen fluid is almost equal, the
difference in vivo will originate from a difference in the rate of disappearance from the r u m e n or from a difference in passage rate through the
intestinal tract or both. F r o m the data of E1 Khidir and Vestergaard
T h o m s e n (1982) it m a y be concluded, t h a t even cane molasses is fermented
very quickly in r u m e n fluid; after 6 hours of incubation more t h a n 93% of
the fermentable organic m a t t e r had disappeared. No comparison was made
with beet molasses, however.
F r o m our data there is an indication for a faster rate of passage of the
rations containing cane molasses through the intestinal tract, because dry
matter c o n t e n t of the faeces produced on those rations was, on average,
lower (about 3% and a b o u t 2% for the 30 and 15% inclusion rates,
respectively). However, the reason for such a difference in passage rate.is, as
yet, unclear.
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C.V.B., 1977. Veevoedertabel Publ. C.V.B., Lelystad.
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Le Dividich, J., Christon, R., Peiniau, J. and Aumaitre, A., 1978. Proximate chemical
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