Chemical and microbiological evaluation of ensiled sugar cane with different additives

Abstract

Sugar cane silage has a potential for animal feeding, but uncontrolled growth of undesirable microorganisms may cause nutritional losses and affect the animal productivity and health. The objective of this work was to evaluate the microbiological quality and chemical composition of ensiled sugar cane with and without nutritional additives after 30 days of fermentation. Yeasts, filamentous fungi and distinct groups of bacteria were enumerated by plate count methods and the chemical analyzes comprised dry matter, crude protein, fiber content, lignin, and pH. Facultative aerobic bacteria and filamentous fungi were not detected during the fermentative process in any of the treatments. The number of yeasts in five varieties of sugar cane silage without additives was about 6.55 Log CFU g -1 of silage, and with 1% ammonium sulfate and 1% urea were about 5.86 and 5.50 Log CFU g -1 of silage, respectively. The lactic acid bacteria (LAB) count without additive was about 8.62 Log CFU g -1 of silage, and with 1% ammonium sulfate and 1% urea the count was about 6.40 and 6.54 Log CFU g -1 of silage, respectively. The average percent of dry material in the three treatments was 20.76%. The addition of ammonium sulphate and urea has decreased the microbial load after 30 days but it has increased the total crude protein concentration. Additives also affected neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber and lignin content in all five varieties of sugar cane silage.

Chemical and microbiological characteristics of sugar cane silages treated with microbial inoculants

“…According to Strom et al (2006), the inhibition of fungi growth can occur due to low oxygen concentration of, high lactic and acetic acid concentrations or the bacteriocin produced by LAB present in the silage. Similar values were reported by Bravo-Martins et al (2006).…”

“…This increase occurs because, after closing the silo, the conditions of low oxygen concentration and the fall in pH favor the development of these bacteria, which are microaerophilic and tolerant to acid conditions (Madigan et al, 1997). The average number of the LAB in all the silages (8.19 log cfu/g) was similar to that reported by Bravo-Martins et al (2006) for sugar cane silages without inoculants (8.8 log cfu/g).…”

“…Values between 2.02 and 5.97 log cfu/g silage have been reported for ensiled cane without additives (Bravo-Martins et al, 2006;Bernardes et al, 2007). The inoculant addition influenced the final yeast population in the silages, because the best results were observed in the silages with the L. buchneri strain UFLA-72-SIL and L. buchneri Pioneer 11A44TM inoculants, in which the yeast population was below the minimum detectable level (<2 log cfu/g).…”

Efeito da adição de Lactobacillus sp. na ensilagem de cana-de-açúcar

“…As frações hemicelulose e FDA foram semelhantes (P>0,05) entre os inoculantes avaliados, com valores condizentes aos encontrados na literatura (Pedroso et al, 2006;Bravo Martins et al, 2006).…”

The use of crude glycerin as an alternative to reduce fermentation losses and enhance the nutritional value of Piatã grass silage

“…Dichloran Glycerol (DG18) agar was used for mold count and the YEPD medium was used for yeast count. The plates were incubated at 28 °C for five to seven days for fungi count and 48 h for yeast count (Bravo-Martins et al, 2006).…”