Using byproducts from agricultural and food production to create sustainable feed for livestock

May 9, 2025 by University of Borås

Collected at: https://phys.org/news/2025-05-byproducts-agricultural-food-production-sustainable.html

Imagine if agricultural and food byproducts could be transformed into an effective and holistic feed for livestock while also helping to combat climate change. Milad Parchami, Ph.D. in Resource Recovery at the University of Borås in Sweden, explored a promising way to do just that in his doctoral thesis.

“We took the residues from apple juice production, the pulp left after making juice, and protein liquid from potatoes, a byproduct of potato starch production—materials that often just become waste—and fed them into a specially designed bioreactor with a membrane for filtration. This membrane bioreactor transformed the byproducts into volatile fatty acids (VFA), a natural energy source for ruminants, such as cows and sheep,” explained Parchami.

The potential of this bio-based VFA mixture as a new ingredient in ruminant feed was then evaluated in two ways: first in laboratory experiments by simulating the environment in the animals’ rumen, and then in a feeding study with sheep.

Less emission of methane

“Lab results showed that the VFA mixture can reduce methane production, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, improve feed digestibility, and increase total VFA concentrations in the simulated rumen environment. In the trials with sheep fed with VFA-supplemented feed, we saw increased levels of VFA in their rumen,” said Parchami.

“The research project points to a win-win situation, where agricultural and food byproducts are upgraded to valuable substances by being converted into sustainable feed and thereby can contribute to a greener future for livestock farming,” he concluded.

More information: Bioconversion of Agro-food byproducts to Volatile Fatty Acids: A Sustainable Approach For Ruminant Feed Supplementation. hb.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1934862&dswid=-2405