Determining feed value of guar and sorghum silages with melas and microbial inoculant addition using in vitro methods

In this study, it was investigated the effect of microbial inoculant and molasses on nutrient content, silage quality, in vitro gas production parameters, methane production, and in vitro digestibility in silages made from the guar bean (GBS), sorghum (SS) and guar bean+sorghum mixed cropping (GSS, 1:1). The in vitro gas production technique (Hohenheim) and Daisy incubator were used to determine the gas production and digestibility of the silages, respectively. In terms of crude protein (CP) content and relative feed value (RFV), GBS had a higher value compared to other silages (P<0.05). As expected, the CP content was found to be higher in the mixed planting compared to groups containing sorghum alone. Regarding silage additives, the groups with molasses and molasses + inoculant showed higher CP content (P<0.05). It was determined that the addition of molasses and molasses+inoculant enhanced silage quality compared to the addition of inoculant alone. It was observed that GBS with inoculant had a lower methane production compared to all other silages (P<0.05). The addition of molasses+inoculant increased the in vitro true digestibility of GBS significantly compared to other silage additives, whereas the intercropping of guar+sorghum with only inoculant decreased it compared to other silages (P<0.05). The results of this study indicate that the silage additives used, especially molasses+inoculant, were more effective on the examined silage parameters of GBS. Consequently, this additive allowed successful silage production from guar beans. Furthermore, the mixed planting of sorghum and guar beans improved both the feed value and the quality of the produced silages. As a leguminous crop, guar beans, which are difficult to ensile alone, could be ensiled without the addition of additives through mixed cropping. The improvement in the quality classification of the silage is evident through both sensory analysis and the Flieg score. Keywords: In vitro gas production, Inoculant, Molasses, Methane, Guar bean, Sorghum, Silage