Comparison of the fermentation quality and nutritive value of silage made from leucaena (Leucaenaleucocephala (Lam.) De Wit) and two tropical grasses

Abstract

About 10-month-old leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) De Wit.) grown in Japan and 52-day-old regrowth of guinea grass (Panicum maximum var. maximum cv. Gatton) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor Moench cv. FS40IR), were chopped up to 3-5 cm lengths and ensiled in laboratory silos of 1.4-1.5 kg capacity. Samples were taken at 0, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 30 days of ensiling for laboratory determination of total nitrogen (T-N), volatile basic nitrogen expressed as per cent of T-N, pH, lactic acid, acetic acid, butyric acid, neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), cellulose, acid detergent lignin (ADL) and in vitro digestibility (IVD). There were significant differences (P<0.05) in the T-N and cell-wall components but not in IVD (P>0.05) among species. The final pH of the silages were 4.00, 3.94 and 5.27 for guinea grass, sorghum and leucaena respectively. Lactic acid was the dominant acid in all the silages. Significant differences (P<0.05) in lactic acid content were observed among the silages. No significant difference (P>0.05) was observed in acetic acid contents of the grass silages but these were significantly higher than that of the leucaena silage. Butyric acid was observed only in the grass silage. IVD of the silages after 30 days were 488.5, 519.6 and 515.5 g in kg DM of guinea grass, sorghum and leucaena respectively.


(Ghana Journal of Agricultural Science, 1996, 29(2): 15-20)