Addition of fermented corn juice as bioinoculant improved quality of saccharum officinarum silage

Abstract

Sugarcane had low dry matter contents (< 25%) and high content of water soluble carbohydrates which leads to an excessive presence of molds and yeast along with higher losses as effluents when used as silage. However, addition of fermented corn juice in sugarcane silage can improve its chemical composition along with decrease in effluents losses. Therefore, present study was conducted to evaluate the losses, chemical composition, microbiological profile, aerobic stability and degradability of microbial inoculated sugarcane silage with addition of varying levels of fermented corn juice. Five levels of the corn fermented juice (0, 200, 400, 800 and 1600 mL t-1) were sprayed in sugarcane silage with five replicates. The highest losses of effluents and gases were verified in silages without bioinoculant (P < 0.05) while the highest values of dry matter (DM) recovery were observed in the silages with presence of bioinoculant (P < 0.05). For the DM content, the highest value was verified in the microbial inoculated silage with 200 mL t-1 fermented corn juice. The highest amounts of non-fibrous carbohydrates (NFC) and the highest values of acetic acid were observed in the microbial inoculated silages (P < 0.05). No significant amount of yeasts and molds was observed in none of the silages. In conclusion, the addition of the corn juice bioinoculant at 200 mL t-1 in sugarcane silage improved its fermentation profile, chemical composition, greatest aerobic stability and degradability along with significant reduction in losses of effluents.