Ruminal degradation of silage of elephant grass with mesquite different components

Abstract

The objective was to evaluate the degradability of dry matter, crude protein and neutral detergent fiber of elephant grass silage with different components of mesquite. It was used a completely randomized design with twelve treatments and four replications, and silages: 100% elephant grass, elephant grass 70% + 30% bran full mesquite, 70% of elephant grass + 30% pods mesquite, 70% of elephant grass + 30% starch mesquite. The elephant grass was cut to 100 days after sprouting, and ensiled with crushed mesquite components. After 60 days, the silos were opened and samples were collected for pre-drying, grinding and subsequent analysis and incubation. Samples of each silage were incubated in the rumen of three steers Holstein X Gir for periods of 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120 and 144 hours. For the set of degradation parameters studied, it was observed that the different components of mesquite in the elephant grass silage increased the potential degradability and effectively increases the degradability of dry matter and crude protein. The higher degradability was observed in mesquite starch silage. The mesquite and its components constitute a viable alternative to be added in the elephant grass silage, however, mesquite starch is more efficient.