<b>Fermentation characteristics of elephant grass silages with macaúba cake

Abstract

The elephant grass presents problems during the fermentation of the ensiled material, being necessary use of additives. This study aimed to evaluate the population of yeast and filamentous fungi, enterobacterias, contents of acetic and butyric acids and ethanol production, in elephant grass silages added with different levels of macaúba cake at opening times. This was a 3 x 6 factorial completely randomized experimental design, with three inclusion levels of the macaúba cake (0, 10 and 20%) and six opening times (1, 5, 10, 20, 40 and 60 days after ensiling), with four replications. For all the studied variables, there was a difference in the interaction among levels and times, and an increasing linear behavior only for the contents of acetic acid, for the other variables, the behavior was quadratic. The elephant grass silages produced acetic acid, which in turn inhibited the production of yeast and filamentous fungi. There was a small development of enterobacterias only in the first opening times, and low production of butyric acid and ethanol, which indicated a material with good fermentative characteristics. The macaúba cake contributed to improve the anaerobic fermentation process, but it was not as expressive for the parameters evaluated in this work.

Fermentação do capim-elefante inoculado com bactéria lática do trato digestório de bovinos

“…A presença de Enterobacteriaceae prejudica o processo de conservação da forragem, principalmente nos primeiros dias de ensilagem, quando há uma maior concentração de oxigênio. Em condições normais, na ausência de oxigênio, ocorre a diminuição do pH, inibindo rapidamente a população dessas bactérias (Guimarães et al, 2018).…”

“…Durante o Processo de ensilagem são encontrados microrganismos autóctones da forrageira, a microbiota epífita (Guimarães et al, 2018). Entretanto a dinâmica das populações desses microrganismos varia de acordo com fatores do ambiente, do manejo da forrageira e características intrínsecas da planta, como teor de matéria seca e de carboidratos solúveis (Ferreira et al, 2013).…”

Chemical composition of sugarcane silages with crambe bran

“…With the highest levels of DM, the humidity of the material reduced, hindering the proliferation of undesirable microorganisms and using the nutrients in the medium as substrates for their growth and development. Thus, they compete with desirable microorganisms and compromise the conservation of ensiled material, reducing the quality of the final product (Bonfá et al, 2018;Guimarães et al, 2018).…”

“…Microorganisms metabolize the substrates available for fermentation into lactic acid, the main product of fermentation by lactic bacteria, or other products, such as ethanol and CO 2 , which are undesirable, both due to the loss of energy in the silage fermentation and because it is a neutral compound for the nutrition of ruminant animals. An adequate population of lactic acid bacteria is necessary to ensure proper lactic acid production, which rapidly reduces the pH and suppresses the activity of microorganisms harmful to silage, such as enterobacteria, clostridia, and others, increasing the conservation of ensiled nutrients (Bonfá et al, 2018;Guimarães et al, 2018;Van Soest, 1994).…”

“…In 2019, Brazil produced approximately 6 billion liters of biodiesel (Agência Nacional de Petróleo -ANP, 2020). Moreover, the growing production of biodiesel generates large volumes of co-products that add nutritional value for both humans and animals (Bonfá et al, 2018;Guimarães et al, 2018).…”