Garland (Chrysanthemum coronarium L.) is a spontaneous species of Mediterranean pasture and a weed of grain cereals. The garland attitude to be conserved as silage was studied on crops harvested at early bud (EB) and late flowering (LF) stages. For each stage the forage was ensiled in 2-litre glass silos immediately after cutting or wilted in the field to different dry matter (DM) levels. Silos were stored in the dark at 25°C for 120 days. The DM content (g kg-1 fresh matter (FM)) at ensiling ranged from 109 (direct-cut) to 332 for EB forage and from 197 (direct-cut) to 425 for LF forage. In EB stage a 77 h-field wilting time was required to reach the DM content of 332 g kg-1 FM, while in LF stage a similar DM content was reached in 27 h. The concentration of water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) in the forage before ensiling ranged from 29 to 69 and from 31 to 51 g kg-1 FM in EB and LF stage, respectively. The high sugar substrate allowed a lactic acid fermentation and good conservation quality in both stages, without detectable butyric acid even in direct cut silages. As DM level increased, lactic acid production declined from 93 to 18 g kg-1 DM in EB silages and from 61 to 15 g kg-1 DM in LF silages, and pH increased from 3.98 to 5.19 and from 4.03 to 5.05, in the two stages, respectively. Ammonia-N values were never higher than 56 g kg-1 TN and soluble-N never exceeded 486 g kg1 TN in all silages. Fermentation DM losses did not exceed 26 g kg-1 DM. High residual WSC were found in all silages. The good results obtained in lab-scale silos suggest that garland can be successfully ensiled. However, the low DM content of herbage at cutting, the difficulties in wilting, and the problems generally related with low DM content silages, suggest further investigation on farm scale silages.
Ensiling forage garland (Chrysanthemum coronarium L.) at two stages of maturity and at different wilting levels
Cavallarin L;Sulas L
2003
Abstract
Garland (Chrysanthemum coronarium L.) is a spontaneous species of Mediterranean pasture and a weed of grain cereals. The garland attitude to be conserved as silage was studied on crops harvested at early bud (EB) and late flowering (LF) stages. For each stage the forage was ensiled in 2-litre glass silos immediately after cutting or wilted in the field to different dry matter (DM) levels. Silos were stored in the dark at 25°C for 120 days. The DM content (g kg-1 fresh matter (FM)) at ensiling ranged from 109 (direct-cut) to 332 for EB forage and from 197 (direct-cut) to 425 for LF forage. In EB stage a 77 h-field wilting time was required to reach the DM content of 332 g kg-1 FM, while in LF stage a similar DM content was reached in 27 h. The concentration of water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) in the forage before ensiling ranged from 29 to 69 and from 31 to 51 g kg-1 FM in EB and LF stage, respectively. The high sugar substrate allowed a lactic acid fermentation and good conservation quality in both stages, without detectable butyric acid even in direct cut silages. As DM level increased, lactic acid production declined from 93 to 18 g kg-1 DM in EB silages and from 61 to 15 g kg-1 DM in LF silages, and pH increased from 3.98 to 5.19 and from 4.03 to 5.05, in the two stages, respectively. Ammonia-N values were never higher than 56 g kg-1 TN and soluble-N never exceeded 486 g kg1 TN in all silages. Fermentation DM losses did not exceed 26 g kg-1 DM. High residual WSC were found in all silages. The good results obtained in lab-scale silos suggest that garland can be successfully ensiled. However, the low DM content of herbage at cutting, the difficulties in wilting, and the problems generally related with low DM content silages, suggest further investigation on farm scale silages.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
