Nutritive value, fermentation profile and effluent loss in sweet potato vine silage, with or without microbial inoculant

Abstract

The nutritive value, fermentation profile, microbial population, and effluent and gases losses of sweet potato vine silages, with and without microbial inoculant, were evaluated. The experiment was conducted in a 5 × 2 factorial arrangement, with five sweet potato genotypes (BD-08, BD-23, BD-25, BD-31TO and BD-43) and presence/absence of microbial inoculant (Sil-All® 4 × 4), in a randomized blocks design, with three replicates. After 48 hr of wilting in field, the vines were chopped, inoculated with microbial inoculant and ensiled in 10-L plastic buckets. The genotype × microbial inoculant interaction was significant (p < .05) only for in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), whose coefficients ranged from 64.2% to 74.2%. The genotype affected significantly (p < .05) the pH, dry matter and acid detergent fiber contents, and lactic and acetic acid concentrations of the silages. The inoculant affected significantly (p < .05) the pH, ammonia nitrogen, and lactic acid contents, and gases losses. We concluded that all genotypes of sweet potato produced good quality silages. Microbial inoculant reduced pH, ammonia nitrogen concentration and gases losses, and increased lactic acid content of silages. The IVDMD of silages made from BD-25 and BD-31TO genotypes was improved with microbial inoculant.