SUGAR-CANE SILAGE WITH PROTEIN-SYNTHESIS - ADDITIVE FORMULATION

Integral sugar cane was ground and prepared with A)urea 1.1, B) urea 1 .1 mineral salts 0.5, C) Urea 1.1 mineral salts)0.5 + zeolite 0.5, D) urea 1.1 + mineral salts 0.5 + zeolite 1.0 as percentage of fresh weig ht according to a random block design with three replications (silos) per treatment in concrete recipients containing 225 kg of ground sugar cane (0.5 m(3) capacity and a density of 450 kg/m(3)). The silos were opened after 53, 56 and 57 days. The silages prepared only with urea showed poor organoleptic quality since an acid (vinegar) and alcohol s cent and a compact texture were observed. The other silages showed a g ood to excellent quality because of their pleasant ripe fruit scent an d easy-flowing texture. Average fermentation temperature varied from 3 7.6 to 35.6 and final DM from 19.4 to 21.8%. pH and N x 6.25 differed (P < 0.01) between treatments (4.6 to 3.2 and from 5.4 to 10.3%, respe ctively). Protein N was 63.4% in the urea treatment + mineral salts (0 .5%), but in those treatments with 0.5 and 1.0% zeolite, these increas ed up to 86.1 and 75.5% and total VFA were 2.12 and 2.04% and lactic a cid 1.14 and 1.06, respectively. It is considered that the combination of urea and mineral salts stimulated yeast growth justifying the high true protein values in the treatments with zeolite which did not allo w pH to increase due to ammonia retention which it gradually released.