In situ digestibility of NDF and starch in corn silages produced with different particle sizes

• Grant number: 18/15489-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2018
• End date: November 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Gustavo Nussio
• Grantee: Larissa Maniero Nazato
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/06819-4 - Nutritive value and hygienic quality of corn silage and corn kernels under ensiling strategies, AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 19/01708-3 - Effects of air infiltration and additives on fermentation characteristics and dry-matter losses of red clover-grass silage contaminated with clostridia, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

In the present day, silage presents an alternative of animal feed for a safer production, since it can be used in times of scarcity of other sources of bulky, and as an option for the management of summer. Whole plant corn silage (considered standard species), is nutritionally a complete voluminous food with high energetic density and with moderate levels of crude protein. Another important point to use the grass in question is that it has desirable characteristics for ensiling, such as dry matter content, soluble carbohydrates and buffering ability, suitable for good fermentation. Thus, to ensure a good quality of this conservation technique, it is important to study the methods related to the improvement of fiber and starch digestibility in corn silage. For this, it is important to evaluate the interaction between crop harvesting point, grain processing and particle size of plant corn silage, as well as corn variety and genotype since this is responsible for characterizing grain texture. Besides these points, in order to evaluate in a concrete way the digestibility of the main nutrients of a diet in ruminants we have the most viable technique the in situ digestibility of NDF and amido, since this has the advantage of being processed under real conditions present in the rumen, allowing the evaluation of how much the animal has been able to take advantage of the food and consequently seek to improve the way of production of this for profit and benefit to the animal. Thus, the objective of this project is to work the process of production of whole plant corn silages, focusing on the evaluation of silages produced from endosperms with different textures, harvested at different phenological stages and mechanically processed under particle size gradients, therefore, the impact of these differences on digestibility.