Chemical, in vitro and in situ nutritional evaluation of waste papaya and pangola grass silage

Objective. To characterize in vitro and in situ nutritional characterization of silages with 75% papaya residues and 25% pangola grass as a base and 3% sugarcane molasses as an additive. Materials and methods. Bagged silos (50 kg) were fermented for 21 d to measure quality (pH, ammonia nitrogen, dry matter (DM), lactic acid and volatile fatty acids (VFA)) and chemical characteristics (crude protein (CP), ash (As), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF)). In the in vitro assay, partial production at 24, 48 and 72 h and cumulative production at 72 h of biogas and methane, DM, NDF and ADF degradation at 72 h were measured. In situ digestibility was determined at 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 24, 24, 36, 72 and 96 h, and nutrient digestibility kinetics (DM, CP, NDF, ADF and OM). Results. The quality characteristics are within the established ranges for considering a good silage. In the chemical content, 5.1% CP and 70.0% NDF stand out. In the first 24 h, 72.3% biogas and 70.5% methane were produced. Degradations were 64% for DM, 51% for NDF and 55% for ADF. In situ digestibility at 72 h showed degradations of 63% for DM, 82% for CP, 49% for NDF and 47% for ADF. Conclusions. The preparation of silage with papaya and pangola grass residues is a non-conventional alternative for ruminant feeding.