Avaliação de silagem de coco de babaçu com diferentes aditivos

Abstract

This study evaluated the bromatological and visual quality of silage made from fresh babaçu coconut subjected to the addition of different additives after 90 days of ensiling. The experiment was conducted at the Animal Nutrition Laboratory (LABNUTRI), Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), using mini silos with 2 kg of material, in a completely randomized design with four treatments and four replications: T1 – without additives; T2 – with papaya; T3 – with urea; T4 – urea + papaya. The samples were homogenized, placed in 2 kg beakers, and compacted to create anaerobic conditions. After 90 days, dry matter (DM), ash (MM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and lignin (LIG) were evaluated according to Detmann et al. (2012). Urea increased CP and EE, while papaya raised DM and promoted stable fermentation. The fibrous fractions showed slight variations without compromising material integrity. The visual evaluation revealed a dark color in the control, reddish-brown with urea, yellowish-brown with papaya, and an intermediate tone in the combination treatment. The data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and compared using Tukey’s test at a 5% significance level, with statistical analyses performed using SISVAR software. It was concluded that the association of urea and papaya improved the nutritional quality, fermentative stability, and preservation of the silage, promoting efficient use of regional by-products and cost reduction.