Potential Nutritive Value of Sweet Corn as a Silage Crop with or Without Corn Ear

This study was conducted to compare the nutritive value of the whole crop sweet corn or sweet corn residue silages with regular silage corn or its residue silages using the chemical composition, gas production kinetics, energy and digestibility. Although, Dry Matter (DM) contents of whole crop Sweet Corn Silage (SCS) and Sweet Corn Residue Silage (SCRS) were significantly (pThis study was conducted to compare the nutritive value of the whole crop sweet corn or sweet corn residue silages with regular silage corn or its residue silages using the chemical composition, gas production kinetics, energy and digestibility. Although, Dry Matter (DM) contents of whole crop Sweet Corn Silage (SCS) and Sweet Corn Residue Silage (SCRS) were significantly (p<0.001) lower than those obtained for counterparts, Crude Protein (CP) contents of SCS and SCRS were significantly (p<0.001) higher than those of conventional counterparts. Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF) content of SCS was significantly (p<0.001) higher than that of Corn Silage (CS) whereas the NDF content of SCRS was similar to that of Stover Silage (SS). Although, Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF) content of SCS was similar to that of corn silage CS, the ADF content of SCRS was lower than that of SS. The Lactic acid content of SCS and SCRS were significantly (p<0.001) higher than those of CS and SS. The potential gas production (a + b) of SCS was lower than that of CS, whereas the potential gas production (a + b) of SCRS was similar to that of SS. The ME of SCS and SCRS were 8.6 and 6.91 MJ kg-1 DM, respectively. The OMD of SCS and SCRS were 57.89 and 46.88%, respectively. These results indicate that sweet corn and its residue may be preserved satisfactorily by ensiling. Based on the chemical composition, fermentation parameters and some estimated parameters, SCS and SCRS have potential nutritive value for ruminant animals.