Evaluation of guandu with increasing levels on characteristics chemical and fermentation characteristics sorghum silage

Abstract

The sorghum plant is one of the most suitable for silage production, with higher yields and production of good quality silage. However, sorghum can have condensed tannins in the whole plant, which for animals, these substances are considered antinutritional factors. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the chemical composition of sorghum silage with increase addition of Cajanus cajan (pigeon pea). The treatments were: - silage with 100% sorghum, silage with 25% of pigeon pea and sorghum 75%, silage with 50% of pigeon pea and sorghum 50%, silage with 75% pigeon pea and 25% of sorghum and silage with 100% pigeon pea based on fresh matter. The silages were produced in 20 experimental silos tubes (four replicates / treatment). The silos were opened 54 days after ensiling, Chemical composition and silage fermentation parameters indicated that, the addition of pigeon pea promoted significant (P<0.01) increase in crude protein in silage, total phenols and total tannins, and the same occurred with fermentation products lost, but with reduction in dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF). Other variables: ash, pH, buffer capacity and total carbohydrates were found in a quadratic significant increasing (P <0.01) whereas for condensed tannins, there was found decreasing quadratic response among silages. The inclusion of pigeon pea to the level of 75% is a viable alternative for improving the nutritional value of sorghum silage. It was also concluded that the silages studied showed acceptable levels of phenolic compounds.