Effect of additives on nutritive value of silages based on palm cabbage production by-products from pupunha (Bactris gasipaes)

The objective of this experiment was to evaluated the effect of additives on the quality and nutritive value of silages made with pejibaye palm by-product, according to the following treatments: T-1 - Control (without additive); T-2 - Addition of 2.5% of sugar; T-3 - Addition of 10.0% of citric pulp and T-4 - Addition of 10.0% of ground corn, based on natural matter. The use of 10.0% of citric pulp (CP) or ground corn (GC) increased dry matter content of the by-product prior to ensilage and of the silage by 6,5 and 8,0 percentage units, respectively. The use of additives resulted in smaller values of ammoniacal nitrogen (N-NH3/TN) and pH. Dry matter intake was higher for silage made with CP or GC, mean value of 85.0 g/kgLW(0.75) or 2.1% of LW, compared to the others (44.7 g/kgLW(0.75) or 1.12% of LW). Also, apparent dry matter digestilibity coefficient was higher for silage containing 10% CP or GC (65.0%) in comparison to the others (52.0%). Cell wall digestibility did not show a defined trend as a function of the treatments. Silage made of by-product pejibaye with 10.0% of citrus pulp or ground corn showed a nutritional value similar to conventional forage silages.