Forage potential and silage quality of four varieties of saccharine sorghum

Abstract

-The objective of this work was to evaluate four cultivars of saccharine sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) regarding productivity, chemical composition of plant parts, and quality of the ensiling process. The tested varieties of saccharine sorghum were BRS 506, BRS 508, BRS 509, and BRS 511. The experiment was divided into two trials, which assessed: production, morphological composition, and nutritional quality of the saccharine varieties; and fermentation quality and nutritional value of the silage produced from the saccharine varieties. Of the tested varieties, BRS 509 and BRS 511 showed the highest total dry matter (DM) production. The BRS 508 variety presented the highest in vitro digestibility of the whole plant (70.65% DM). During ensiling, the BRS 509 variety showed the lowest DM loss (8.87%). The highest effluent production was observed for BRS 506 and BRS 508, with yields of 521.87 and 393.16 kg Mg -1 ensiled DM, respectively. The BRS 511 variety is the most recommended because of the best results for plant production and nutritional quality. Regarding the ensiling process, BRS 509 presents the lowest fermentation losses and the highest nutritional value of silage.Index terms: Sorghum bicolor, forage system, nutritional value, roughage, ruminant. Potencial forrageiro e qualidade da silagem de quatro variedades de sorgo sacarinoResumo -O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar quatro variedades de sorgo sacarino (Sorghum bicolor)quanto à produtividade, à composição química das partes da planta e à qualidade do processo de ensilagem. As variedades de sorgo sacarino utilizadas foram BRS 506, BRS 508, BRS 509 e BRS 511. O experimento foi dividido em dois ensaios, que avaliaram: produção, composição morfológica e qualidade nutricional das variedades sacarinas; e qualidade do processo fermentativo e valor nutricional das silagens das variedades sacarinas. Das variedades testadas, a BRS 509 e a BRS 511 foram as que apresentaram maiores produções de matéria seca (MS) total. A variedade BRS 508 apresentou o maior coeficiente de digestibilidade in vitro da planta inteira (70,65% da MS). Durante a ensilagem, a variedade BRS 509 foi a que apresentou menor perda de MS (8,87%). A maior produção de efluentes foi observada para BRS 506 e BRS 508, com produção de 521,87 e 393,16 kg Mg -1 de MS ensilada, respectivamente. A variedade BRS 511 é a mais indicada em razão dos melhores resultados de produção e de qualidade nutricional da planta. Em relação ao processo de ensilagem, a BRS 509 apresenta as menores perdas fermentativas e o maior valor nutritivo da silagem.Termos para indexação: Sorghum bicolor, forragicultura, valor nutritivo, volumoso, ruminantes.

Nutritional value of sorghum silage of different purposes

“…Studies on the use of grain sorghum for silage production are scare in Brazil. Forage sorghum cultivars, such as BRS 610 and BRS 655, have been studied for agronomic characteristics, chemical composition, and digestibility (Machado et al, 2012;Albuquerque et al, 2013;Santos et al, 2013), as have some cultivars of sweet sorghum, such as BRS 506 (Gomes et al, 2006;Orrico Junior et al, 2015). However, evaluations of nitrogen and carbohydrates fractions, as well as kinetics parameters are rare in sorghum silage evaluations.…”

Productive performance and quantitative carcass traits of lambs fed saccharine sorghum silage

“…The fact no differences were found between the intake and performance of animals fed saccharine or forage sorghum silages stands out. The low grain production of saccharine sorghum (Orrico Junior et al, 2015) is offset by the high content of soluble sugars (Neto et al, 2017), resulting in silage with a nutritional value similar to that of the traditionally used sorghum silage. Therefore, BRS 506 and BRS 511, saccharine sorghum varieties, can be used in ruminant feed.…”

“…Despite being researched for the production of sugar and alcohol, few studies use saccharin varieties as bulky sources for feeding ruminants. Orrico Junior et al (2015) evaluated the forage potential of four varieties of sorghum in terms of plant and silage productivity, botanical composition, and nutritional value. According to these authors, plants of this species can reach dry matter yield of 24 Mg ha -1 , average crude protein contents of 5%, and in vitro dry matter digestibility coefficient of up to 70%.…”

Physical-Chemical Composition, Fatty Acid Profile and Sensory Attributes of Meat of Lambs Fed With Saccharine Sorghum Silage

“…Saccharine sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) was improved to be used in ethanol production, mainly during the sugarcane off-season (De Nóbile & Nunes, 2014), because it is a bioenergetic species whose culm is rich in fermentable sugars (Anandan, Zoltan, Khan, Ravi, & Blümmel, 2012;Orrico Junior et al, 2015). In addition, this species resembles sugarcane plants due to a rapid productive cycle, mechanisable harvest, succulent culms and good bagasse production (Parrella, 2011), which can be used for bioenergy production and as animal feed (De Nóbile & Nunes, 2014).…”

“…The silage offered to animals can affect the quality of their final products, such as milk and meat (Campos et al, 2017;Milewski et al, 2014), denoting the importance of studies that investigate the diet effects (Holanda Júnior, 2006;Manarelli et al, 2019;Pereira et al, 2016). Considering that other studies (Manarelli et al, 2019;Orrico Junior et al, 2015) found variations in the effect of 'BRS506' saccharin sorghum silage on animal performance and carcass characteristics, it is important to evaluate the quality parameters of meat of sheep fed with this silage.…”