Calcium oxide and Lactobacillus buchneri NCIMB 40788 in the ensiling of in natura or burned sugar cane

The objective of this trial was to evaluate the effects of the inclusion of calcium oxide (CaO) and/or L. buchneri (LB) on the losses and chemical composition changes of in natura and burned sugar cane silages. Silage treatments were: in natura sugar cane without additive (IS), with Lactobacillus buchneri (ISLB), with calcium oxide (ISCaO) equivalent to 1% of natural matter, and the combination of LB and CaO (ISLBCaO). Experimental design was completely randomized in a factorial scheme (2 x 4) considering status (burned or not) and additives (LB, CaO and LB+CaO) with three replications per treatment. Dry matter variation was lower for in natura and burned silages treated with CaO; regardless of the LB presence, the mean difference was 5.85 percentage units. In sugar cane silages without additives, higher dry matter recoveries were observed when the plant was ensiled with in natura silage (63.5%) compared with burned silage (46.8%). However, when additives (CaO and LB) were used, no significant differences occurred between the in natura and burned silage treatments. The presence of calcium oxide was the factor that provided the greatest discrimination among the data. Calcium oxide is effective in reducing losses and chemical changes on the in natura and burned silages. The L. buchneri acts effectively on burned sugar cane silages, and the latter are more susceptible to losses than those of in natura sugar cane.