The forage quality and the in vitro ruminal digestibility, gas production, organic acids, and some estimated digestion parameters of tomato herbage silage with molasses and barley

Mahmut Teki̇n,Kanber Kara

doi:10.3906/vet-1908-47

Abstract

In this study, nutrient composition and use of silage after harvest of waste green parts herbage of tomato Licopersicon esculentum L. were researched as a wet forage source for ruminants. Three different silages of tomato herbage: without additive TS , with 5% sugar beet molasses TSm , or 5% crushed barley grain TSb were prepared. The forage quality and the in vitro ruminal digestibility, gas production, organic acids, and some estimated digestion parameters for different silages of tomato herbage were determined. Besides, the in vitro digestion values of using at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% rates instead of corn silage in the dairy cattle total mix ration TMR were researched. The lactic acid content of TSb silage was higher than those of the TS and TSm silages P 0.05 . Consequently, results have shown that tomato herbage should be ensiled with 5% molasses. However, it has been concluded that using tomato herbage silage with barley up to 75% or sugar beet molasses up to 100% instead of corn silage in dairy cattle ration did not have a negative effect in vitro.

Highlights

The tomato plant (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) belongs to the family Solanacae and is an annual or perennial plant [1,2]
It was determined that the dry matter (DM) (P ≤ 0.001) and nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) (P = 0.006) levels of the tomato herbage silages with molasses and barley silages were higher than those of the tomato herbage silages without additives
Tomato greenhouse wastes were rich in inorganic substances by the previous researchers stated, especially in terms of nitrogen and salt [3]

Summary

Introduction

The tomato plant (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) belongs to the family Solanacae and is an annual or perennial plant [1,2]. The green fruits and leaves of tomato plant contain many antinutritional substances such as solanine and tannins. These substances may have a toxic effect on human and animal health [4,5]. Huge amounts of biomass residues are left on the greenhouse or field, namely tomato harvest stalks (or tomato herbage) which include plant residues and plant wastes. These greenhouse wastes are mainly composed of 19% acid detergent lignin (ADL), 14% hemicellulose (HemC), about 50% cellulose and 5% pectin and are valuable resources for further applications [7].

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion