Objective

: To evaluate the fermentative and organoleptic quality of silages with different proportions of forage and root of two varieties of Manihot esculenta Crantz in Matanzas province, Cuba.

Materials and Methods

: A study was conducted in the nutrition laboratory of the Pastures and Forages Research Station Indio Hatuey, where the fermentative quality of two M. esculenta varieties (INIVIT Y-93-4 and Señorita), as well as the organoleptic quality of the produced silage, was evaluated. A complete randomized design was applied with three treatments, where each variety was evaluated separately: T1) 0 % foliage: 100 % root; T2) 25 % foliage: 75 % root and T3) 100 % foliage: 0 % root, at four moments of evaluation. Variance analysis was carried out and to determine the difference among means Duncan’s test was used. The data were processed through the statistical package SPSS®.

Results

: In all the treatments of the variety INIVIT Y-93-4, the highest temperatures were obtained at 15 days after starting the ensiling process, with values of 27,0; 26,9 and 26,7 oC for T3, T1 and T2, respectively. However, the performance for the variety Señorita was different, with the highest temperature values (29,0 ºC) at the end of the process. Significant differences (p ≤ 0,001) were also found in the concentration of N-NH3 among the treatments in both varieties. The highest values (between 1,3 and 1,9) were obtained in T3, with regards to T1 and T2, which, in turn, differed between them.

Conclusions

: The silage fermentation dynamics, with different proportions of forage and root from M. esculenta of the variety INIVIT Y-93-4, reached adequate temperature, pH and N-NH3 parameters. The silages of both varieties did show good organoleptic characteristics.

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