ABSTRACT - Twenty-eight heifers, with average 303 kg LW were used to determine the apparent digestibility of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), organic matter (OM), gross energy (GE), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and starch in diets containing corn or cassava hull and yeast or cottonseed meal plus meat and bone meal, during seven days. The addition effect of salt or mineralized salt to the diets was also evaluated. The acid insoluble ash was used as internal maker. The digestibility of DM, OM and GE were higher for diets containing yeast compared to those ones with cottonseed meal plus meat and bone meal. The same happens for digestibilities of CP, ADF and NDF, however, only for diets containing corn as a energy source. There was no effect of protein sources on starch digestibility. The cassava hull presented higher nutrient digestibility compared to corn grain. The mineralized salt provided higher digestibility of DM, CP, OM, NDF and starch, compared to corn based diets with salt.
cassava hull; digestibility; energy; yeast; protein
