Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science, Vol. LXIII, Issue 1
Written by Victor ŢÎŢEI
The objective of this research was to evaluate the quality of green mass and silage prepared from cardoon - Cynara cardunculus var. altilis and Jerusalem artichoke - Helianthus tuberosus cv. 'Solar’ growing in the experimental field of NBGI, Chişinău, Republic of Moldova. Some assessments of the main biochemical parameters: crude protein (CP), ash, acid detergent fibre (ADF), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL), total soluble sugars (TSS), digestible dry matter (DDM) have been determined by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), the sensorial characteristics of prepared silages – in accordance with the Moldavian standard SM 108, the concentration of hemicellulose (HC), cellulose (Cel), digestible energy (DE), metabolizable energy (ME), net energy for lactation (NEl) and relative feed value (RFV) were calculated according to standard procedures. It was determined that dry matter content in the harvested green mass varied from 19.8% in Cynara cardunculus to 28.9% in Helianthus tuberosus, its biochemical composition and feed value were: 9.4-12.0% CP, 6.0-7.1% ash, 30.2-40.0% ADF, 54.5-60.3% NDF, 3.1-5.1% ADL, 14.6-27.8% TSS, 27.1-34.9% Cel and 20.3-24.3% HC, 57.7-65.3% DDM, RFV = 89-111, 11.87-12.82 MJ/kg DE, 9.41- 10.53 MJ/kg ME and 5.43-6.55 MJ/kg NEl. It was found that the prepared silages had pleasant smell, somehow similar to pickled vegetables, the colour of the cardoon silage was homogeneous olive, but Jerusalem artichoke silage contained dark-green leaves with brownish hues and yellow-green stems. The pH of the silage was 3.77-4.17, it contained 9.7-12.5% CP, 8.4-10.3% ash, 30.6-33.4% ADF, 49.6-53.1% NDF, 2.6-5.0% ADL, 19.2-28.0% Cel, 22.5- 28.4% HC with feed value 62.9-65.1% DDM, RFV= 114-118, 12.39-12.78 MJ/kg DE, 10.17-10.49 MJ/kg ME and 6.19- 6.51 MJ/kg NEl. The studied perennial Asteraceae species were characterized by high green mass productivity with optimal nutrient contents; good silage quality can be used as alternative feed for ruminant animals.
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