Effects of different levels of barley grain powder on chemical composition, fermentation parameters and gas production in artichoke silage

This research aimed to investigate the effects of different levels of grounded barley grain on chemical composition, fermentation parameters and in vitro gas production of artichoke silage. According to this, after chopping fresh artichoke forage, ground barley grain was added to artichoke forage at different levels of zero, 5 and 10% and ensiled in a compeletly ramdomized design with 4 replicat for 60 days. Corn forage was ensiled in the same conditions but without additives. Chemical composition, gas production parameters, ammonia nitrogen concentration, pH and buffering capacity of silages were measured. The results showed that the dry matter and ether extract of artichoke silage increased and the crude protein, NDF and ADF decreased with increasing level of grounded barley grain in the silos. Corn silage had the lowest pH and the highest flieg point compared to other silages. In artichoke silage, pH and ammonia-N concentration were significantly reduced by adding grounded barley grain to silos. The amount of effluent decreased significantly with increasing grounded barley grain to artichoke silage. Water soluble carbohydrates and fermentation coefficient in artichoke silage without additive had the lowest value. Among the artichoke silage, silage with 10% ground barley grain had the highest gas volume, gas production potential, metabolizable energy and the lowest partitioning factor. The results showed that the addition of ground barley grain to artichoke silage up to 10% level improves the fermentation parameters in silage and makes artichoke silage desirable silage.