Potencialidades e limitações de plantas forrageiras para ensilagem: Revisão

Abstract

The silage process depends on many factors, from the choice of the forage to the planting, through the harvesting, silage and silo opening, always emphasizing the quality of the forage preserved. The medium must be anaerobic, ideal for the growth of lactic acid bacteria, which produce organic acids from the consumption of soluble carbohydrates, reducing the hydrogen ionic potential (pH) of the medium and promoting the conservation of the material. For the quality of the ensiled material depends directly on the permanence of this pH low enough and absence of oxygen, in order to inhibit the performance of undesirable microorganisms that go back to the secondary fermentations. Forage crops intended for silage must possess desirable characteristics that are adequate to the fermentation process, such as dry matter, soluble carbohydrates, nitrate and buffer capacity, since forages that do not have these characteristics can cause difficulties of acidification of the environment, making it difficult to However, some techniques can be used to minimize these deficiencies, such as wilting and the use of additives can be applied by defining success in silage production. Considering the above, the objective of this review was to compile information about the potentialities and limitations of forage plants for silage, in order to guarantee a quality preserved food that meets the nutritional needs of the animals, as well as to present data for the basement of the nutritive value.