The chemical and fermentative changes of the sugar cane ensiled without or with (control) ground dried ear corn (GDEC) were evaluated during 100 days of storage period. The pH values, buffer capacity (BC), dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), hemicellulose (HM) ammonia nitrogen in relation to the total nitrogen (N-NH3/TN) were evaluated. The experiment was conducted in a complete randomized design as a factorial (2 × 21) scheme with three replications. The factor A was composed of sugar cane silage with or without GDEC, and the factor B was the 21 storage periods. The data were submitted to the regression analyses. The pH values decreased in the first five days of storage, from 5.2 to 3.5 and from 5.2 to 3.6, respectively on the silage without and with GDEC. Silages with GDEC showed higher pH values when compared to the control, on average of 0.09 units. The inclusion of GDEC resulted in higher N-NH3/TN values in all storage periods. In the control silage, the reduction on the DM content was 14.1 units and 8.8 units for those with GDEC. The inclusion of GDEC resulted in the reduction of 17.0 units in the NDF, probably due to the low fiber content of the additive. Sugar cane silage presents chemical changes up to 100 days of storage, and should not remain stored for long periods.
additives; chemical composition; ensilage
