Nutritive value of elephantgrass ensiled with cocoa meal and sugarcane

The effects of the addition of cocoa meal and sugarcane on the nutritional value of elephantgrass silage were studied considering a factorial outline 2 x 4, being used 0 and 15% of cocoa meal and 0, 15, 30, and 45% of sugarcane, with four repetitions. The elephantgrass presented 29.2% of dry matter (DM) and the silages were produced in experimental silos of PVC, that were open 60 days after the ensiling. The addition of cocoa meal reduced the content of acid detergent fiber (ADF) and increased the content of DM, crude protein, and the potential degradability of DM (PD DM48h). The sugarcane also reduced the ADF content, increased PD DM48h, and increased the values of total digestible nutrients (TDN) when inclusion was up to 20.5%, although it has reduced the content of DM. In the silage containing cocoa meal and with the inclusion of sugarcane, lineal reduction of the content of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and lineal increase of the contents of nonstructural carbohydrates (NC) and TDN were reported. The association cocoa meal and sugarcane increased the content of NC and the values of TDN, besides reducing NDF, improving the nutritive value of the elephant grass silage.