Variación en la concentración de sólidos solubles durante el día, en tres pasturas en época seca en el valle medio del río Sinú Variation of Soluble Solids Concentration During the Day in Three Pastures During the Dry Season in the Middle River Sinú Valley

The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of soluble solids at different times of the day in three tropical pastures. The experiment was conducted at the Research Center Turipana of Colombian Agricultural Research Corporation, located in Cerete, Colombia. During January and February of 2011, we assessed the concentration of soluble solids in three fertirrigated pastures: Panicum maximum, Cynodon nlemfuensis and Brachiaria hybrid cv. Mulato II, in an intensive model of meat production at different sampling times 7:00 and 10:00 a. m., 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. The statistical design of the experiment consisted of a block design completely randomized three-factor under 3*3*4 (pasture*stocking*time) and three replicates for each evaluation day. An analysis of variance and differences were statistically significant when the means were separated by Tukey test (p<0.05). The analysis found highly significant differences (p<0.01) in the concentration of soluble solids in different pastures, in all periods of the day evaluated, with the cultivar Mulato II that presented the highest values with 9.19 %, followed by Cynodon nlemfuensis and Panicum maximum with 8.27 % and 7.07 %, respectively. The soluble solids concentration varied during the day and between pastures. The time periods close to noon —10:00 a. m. and 1:00 p. m.— presented the highest concentrations of soluble solids in all pastures; this can be used as a tool for paddock rotation.