Enriched Nutrients Of Napier Grass Using Aspergillus Spp. Through Fermentation

Abstract

Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) is widely used for ruminant feeding due to its high yield and low input management. Because of the low nutritive value of Napier grass, it is required to enhance it using additives (e.g., molasses and fungi) that can fulfil the nutrient requirement of ruminants. In this work, Napier grass was ensiled with or without fungus for 21 days: without fungus (T1), with Aspergillus niger (T2), and with A. awamori (T3), to investigate the influence of Aspergillus spp. on fermentation characteristics and nutritive values. The results revealed that the application of Aspergillus spp. increased (p<0.05) pH level. Lactic acid content did not differ (p>0.05) significantly between treatments. The ammonia nitrogen content was higher (p<0.05) in A. niger treated silage, followed by A. awamori treated silage and untreated silage. The ammonia nitrogen, crude protein (CP), dry matter (DM), nitrogen-free extract (NFE), and ether extract (EE) contents varied significantly (p<0.05) among the treatments, while the ash contents and crude fiber (CF) did not differ. The T2 silage showed the highest while the T1 silage showed the lowest as follows: DM (24.0% vs. 21.0%), CP (11.4% vs. 9.2%), CF (9.3% vs. 8.3%), and ash (9.4% vs. 6.3%) contents. The T2 silage showed the highest EE content (7.7%), while T3 showed the lowest (0.6%). The T1 silage showed the highest NFE content (74.7%), while the T2 silage showed the lowest (62.3%). The above findings suggested that the A. niger addition could enhance fermentation characteristics and nutritive values of silage.