Bromatological and microbiological characteristics of sugarcane silages treated with calcium oxide

Jucilene Cavali,Sebastião De Campos Valadares Filho,Márcia Vitória Santos,Juliana Ferraz Huback Rodrigues,Edson Mauro Santos,Gleidson Giordano Pinto De Carvalho,Marlos Oliveira Porto,Odilon Gomes Pereira

doi:10.1590/s1516-35982010000700002

Abstract

It was evaluated the addition of calcium oxide (0; 0.5; 1.0; 1.5; and 2.0% of dry matter) effect on the chemical composition and ruminal degradability of the dry matter and neutral detergent fiber, on the losses of dry matter, and on the microbial population in sugar cane silages. A design with five levels of calcium oxide and three replications was used. All the variables were influenced by the addition of calcium oxide in the silages, except the composition in acid detergent insoluble protein, water soluble carbohydrates and lignin. The dry matter content and pH linearly increased while the contents of organic matter, hemicellulose and crude protein linearly decreased with the levels of calcium oxide. Neutral detergent fiber corrected for ashes and protein and acid detergent fiber were adjusted for the quadratic models with calculated minimal values of 33.3 and 22.5% for the levels 1.73 and 1.49% of calcium oxide, respectively. The in vitro digestibility of the dry matter and the content of amoniacal nitrogen adjusted to quadratic models with maximal levels of 80.1% and 9.1% for the levels of 1.8 and 0.7% of calcium oxide, respectively. The minimal production of gas (3.18%) was observed at the level of 1.39% of calcium oxide. Production of effluent and recovery of dry matter of the ensiled mass showed a reduction and a linear increase, respectively, with addition of calcium oxide. The highest lactic acid bacterial population was observed in the silage treated with 1.5% of calcium oxide. The addition of calcium oxide increased degradability of the soluble fraction of the dry matter, which was higher than 50% and reduced the non- degradable fraction of the neutral detergent fiber. Addition of calcium oxide level higher than 1.0% in the sugar cane during ensilage improves in vitro dry matter digestibility and the recovery of dry matter, increases populations of lactic acid bacteria and reduces production of yeasts.

Highlights

The culture of sugarcane is of great importance for the ruminant nutrition, during dry season
The losses of dry matter mainly proceeding from CO2 produced by route of the ethanol, that responded for 54% of the total dry matter losses occurred until the 45th day of ensilage, as well as of the volatilization of the ethanol that reduces up to 50 g/kg the concentration of alcohol in the dry matter of sugarcane silages (Pedroso et al, 2005), resulting in larger losses of dry matter and nutritious value, besides reducing around of 750 g/kg in contents of soluble carbohydrate (Silva et al, 2008; Pedroso et al, 2005)
The calcium oxide (CO), in the form of lime micro processed or micro-pulverized, presented the following levels of guarantee: MgO = 5; Al2O3 = 3; SiO2 = 14; Fe2O3 = 2; total CO = 900; available CO = 873; CO2=15 and S = 0.7 g/kg and it is recommended for the hydrolyses of the sugarcane, once this product is totally different from the virgin whitewash used in civil construction and it is adequate for animal feeding because it is free of toxicant substances as dioxins and furans in its process production (Santos et al, 2009)

Summary

Introduction

The culture of sugarcane is of great importance for the ruminant nutrition, during dry season. The restrictions for the use of sugarcane include the need for daily cutting and the nutritional value, which is limited by reduced protein content and low dietary fiber (Barbosa & Silveira, 2006). Sugarcane can be ensiled like other roughages because it presents the main favorable characteristics for processing, including a dry matter content of approximately 250 to 300 g/kg a soluble carbohydrate around 100 g/kg of natural matter and the ability to be buffered so as to allow pH values decrease to around 3.5 (Valvasori, 1995). The losses of dry matter mainly proceeding from CO2 produced by route of the ethanol, that responded for 54% of the total dry matter losses occurred until the 45th day of ensilage, as well as of the volatilization of the ethanol that reduces up to 50 g/kg the concentration of alcohol in the dry matter of sugarcane silages (Pedroso et al, 2005), resulting in larger losses of dry matter and nutritious value, besides reducing around of 750 g/kg in contents of soluble carbohydrate (Silva et al, 2008; Pedroso et al, 2005)

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Conclusion