Ensiling of Conocarpus erectus tree leaves with molasses, exogenous enzyme and Lactobacillus plantarum impacts on ruminal sheep biogases production and fermentation

This study was performed to evaluate the effect of applying molasses (5% w/w) (M), exogenous enzyme (cellulase; 6 millions U kg−1) (E) and Lactobacillus plantarum (3 × 105 cfu g−1 of fresh material) (LAB) on the ensiling characteristics of Conocarpus erectus leaves. Eight treatments were studied; (1) without additive (conocarpus silage: CS), (2) CS + E (CSE), (3) CS + M (CSM), (4) CS + LAB (CSL), (5) CS + E + M (CSEM), (6) CS + E + LAB (CSEL), (7) CS + M + LAB (CSML) and (8) CS + E + M + LAB (CSEML). The lowest amount (P 0.05). In vitro digestibility of dry matter (DMD) and in vitro digestibility of NDF (NDFD) increased (P < 0.05) for CSML and the highest concentration of ammonia-N was observed in silage without additive. The result of these experiments showed due to the positive effect of a treatment containing molasses and lactic acid bacteria (CSML), maybe the treatment with it will be effective in improving the nutritional value of conocarpus leaves in ruminants.