Nutritional value and physical and chemical characteristics of white mulberry tree using different conservation methods for ruminant feed

This study was carried out to evaluate the white mulberry tree (Morus alba) as a feedstuff for ruminants in natura, as hay and as silage. A completely randomized design with five treatments and three replicates was used, where the treatments were five types of mulberry forage: (1) in natura after cutting; (2) hay; (3) silage of mulberry in natura; (4) silage of wilted mulberry and (5) silage of mulberry with ground ear corn. The content of crude protein (CP) did not differ between the silages (average of 19.03% of dry matter - DM). The CP content of the silages was higher than in mulberry hay (15.26% DM) and similar to mulberry after cutting (17.00% DM). The neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content did not differ between the silages (34.84% DM on average), but the NDF of silage with ear corn was lower than the mulberry hay (33.77 vs. 39.36% DM). The acid detergent fiber (ADF) content did not differ between silages and mulberry hay (30.66% DM on average). The lowest value for ADF was observed in the mulberry after cutting (26.06% DM). The aerobic stability of the silages was not broken during the seven days of aerobic exposure. The pH of silage of mulberry in natura was similar to silage of wilted mulberry (4.80 on average), while the silage with ear corn showed a lower pH value (4.58) compared to the other silages. The buffering capacity (BC) did not differ between the silage with ear corn and silage of wilted mulberry (84.91 meq 100 g DM-1 on average), while a lower value was observed for silage of mulberry in natura (56.69 meq 100 g DM-1). The highest value for ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) was demonstrated in the silage of mulberry in natura (13.08% total N), and the lowest values were observed in the silage with ear corn and silage of wilted mulberry (7.49 and 9.58% total N, respectively). Silage with 11% of ground ear corn is the best alternative use of white mulberry tree as forage for ruminant feeding, since this form presented low fiber content and a fermentative pattern suitable for the process of forage conservation.