Silage quality of Piata palisadegrass with palm kernel cake

Abstract

This study was developed to evaluate silage quality of Piata palisadegrass with palm kernel cake (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.). The experiment was carried out at the Federal Institute of Goiás State, Campus Rio Verde, in a completely randomized design with four treatments and five repetitions. The treatments consisted of Piata palisadegrass ensiled with palm kernel in the levels of 0, 5, 10 and 15% on a natural basis of the Piata palisadegrass. The material was minced, mixed, packed into experimental silos and opened after 60 days of fermentation. The palm kernel cake is an agro-industrial by-product that can enrich the silage, increasing its nutritional value.The addition of palm kernel cake improved the fermentative and bromatological parameters of the silage, increasing the dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, and total digestible nutrients, with a reduction in the fiber fraction, values of pH, ammonia nitrogen, and titratable acidity. The use of palm kernel cake in Piata palisadegrass silage increase the fractions A, B1, B2 and in vitro dry matter digestibility, and decrease the fractions B3 and C. For achieving the best quality silage it is recommended the addition of 15% palm kernel cake.