Chemical composition and fermentative losses of sugar cane ensilage with different Brix degrees, with or without calcium oxide

Douglas Dos Santos Pina,Felipe Antunes Magalhães,Diego Zanetti,Marcelo Grossi Machado,Odilon Gomes Pereira,Gustavo Chamon De Castro Menezes,Mário Fonseca Paulino,Sebastião De Campos Valadares Filho

doi:10.1590/s1516-35982012000200004

Douglas Dos Santos Pina, Felipe Antunes Magalhães + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s1516-35982012000200004

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of sugar cane ensilage with different Brix degrees, with or without the addition of 0.5% of calcium oxide (lime) on the chemical composition and fermentation losses of silages. A complete random design in a 9 × 2 factorial arrangement was used. Experimental silos were used, ensilage was done every 15 days with Brix measuring, and they were opened after 30 days of fermentation. As the Brix degree of the ensiled material increased, the contents of dry matter (DM) increased and contents of ash, crude protein (CP) and fibers (neutral and acid detergent fiber corrected for proteins - NDFap and ADFap) reduced. After fermentation, DM content of the silage presented a linear increase with the Brix degree content concentration, positively correlating with content of lime, but the contents of ash, CP, EE and NDFap were linearly reduced with the Brix increase. Content of ADFap suffered linear reduction for the treated silage whereas quadratic behavior was found in the untreated silage. Production of ethanol was presented in a quadratic manner for the silages without lime, and cubically in silages with lime, according to the Brix degree. The treated or untreated silages presented an average pH of 3.98 and 3.50, respectively. Contents of acetic acid and butyric acid were not affected by the lime content and Brix degree. Untreated silages presented reduction of contents of propionic acid as the Brix degree increased. The higher the Brix degree value, the higher the total losses of dry matter in the sugar cane silages with or without treatment. The treatment of the sugar cane with 0.5% calcium oxide on the natural matter basis is effective in reducing the undesired fermentation of the ensilage material.

Highlights

The great issue of ensiled sugar cane is the alcoholic fermentation caused mainly by yeast which uses the soluble carbohydrates as energy source, with ethanol as the main byproduct, contributing to the loss of dry matter
As the Brix degree of the ensiled material increased, the contents of dry matter (DM) increased and contents of ash, crude protein (CP) and fibers reduced
DM content of the silage presented a linear increase with the Brix degree content concentration, positively correlating with content of lime, but the contents of ash, CP, ether extract (EE) and NDFap were linearly reduced with the Brix increase

Summary

Introduction

The great issue of ensiled sugar cane is the alcoholic fermentation caused mainly by yeast which uses the soluble carbohydrates as energy source, with ethanol as the main byproduct, contributing to the loss of dry matter. Considering that the high content of soluble carbohydrates in the cane sugar is responsible for alcoholic fermentation when ensiled (Van Soest, 1994), the use of sugar cane with low sucrose content, low Brix, can be an interesting alternative to reduce fermentation losses for silage, as well as to provide new shoots of the plant before the beginning of the dry season, enabling two cuts in one year. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of the presence or lack of 0.5% lime on the fermentative profile of silages of sugar cane ensiled with different Brix degrees

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