The chemical composition, rumen degradability, in vitro gas production, energy content and digestibility of olive cake ensiled with additives

The chemical composition, in situ rumen degradability coefficients of dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP), in vitro gas production and in vivo digestibility were evaluated for olive cake (OC) silage treated (DM basis) with different additives as follows: (1) untreated OC; (2) OC, 8% molasses and 0.4% formic acid and (3) OC, 8% molasses, 0.4% formic acid and 0.5% urea. After addition of the additives, materials were ensiled for 60 days in plastic bags. The addition of molasses, formic acid and urea resulted in higher DM, CP, pH and NH3-N content. There were some reductions in neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent lignin and acid detergent fiber contents of silages especially with treatment 3. The additives increased the nutritive value and preserved well the ensiled OC. Ruminal maximum potential degradability (a+b), and effective degradability (ED) of DM and CP were higher for treatment 3. Total gas production was higher (P