Use of a de-stoned olive pomace in feed for heavy lamb production

Abstract

The possibility of using by-products of the olive oil industry represents an interesting and profitable opportunity, especially for a region like Apulia, which plays a leading role in the production of olive cake, nowadays called pomace (about 31,200 tons per year; 35 kg of olive pomace produced per 100 kg of treated olives), accounting for more than a third of the total national output. This type of by-product is of particular interest in the Mediterranean area since it could be a potential and alternative source of nutrition for small ruminants. Previous studies reported that olive cakes have been successfully used for feeding heavy lambs (Accardi et al., 1979; Leto, 1984; Belibasakis, 1985; Dattilo et al., 1995; Omar et al., 1995; Liotta et al., 2001; Zumbo et al., 2001)...

Keywords

• lambs, productive performances, de-stoned olive pomace.