Published in Scientific Papers. Series A. Agronomy, Vol. LXIV, Issue 2
Written by Victor ŢÎŢEI
The genus Brassica, family Brassicaceae, contains 38 species and many of them are known as important agricultural and horticultural crops, which provide edible roots, leaves, stems, buds, flowers and seeds, some are used as human food in many different forms, and some species are used as fodder and cover crops. We investigated some biological peculiarities and the quality of fresh and ensiled biomass of Brassica napus subsp. oleifera, which was cultivated on the experimental land in the National Botanical Garden (Institute), Chisinau. The green mass of Brassica napus oleifera was mowed in the flowering stage and some of its main biochemical parameters were assessed. Thus, crude protein (CP), ash (CA), acid detergent fibre (ADF), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), total soluble sugars (TSS), digestible dry matter (DDM) and digestible organic matter (DOM) have been determined by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technique using PERTEN DA 7200, the concentration of hemicellulose (HC), cellulose (Cel), digestible energy (DE), metabolizable energy (ME), net energy for lactation (NEl) and relative feed value (RFV) were calculated according to standard procedures, and the sensorial and chemical characteristics of the prepared silage were determined in accordance with the standard for forage quality analysis SM 108. It has been determined that the fresh mass of Brassica napus oleifera contained 14.4% DM, 227 g/kg CP, 97 g/kg CA, 442 g/kg NDF, 285 g/kg ADF, 41 g/kg ADL, 244 g/kg cellulose, 157 g/kg hemicellulose, RFV=140, 13.07 MJ/kg DE, 10.73 MJ/kg ME and 6.75 MJ/kg NEl. These characteristics indicate a good quality of the natural feed for ruminants. The prepared silage contained dark-green leaves with yellow-green stems, the concentration of nutrients was: 231 g/kg CP, 152 g/kg CA, 467 g/kg NDF, 307 g/kg ADF, 34 g/kg ADL, 273 g/kg cellulose, 160 g/kg hemicellulose, RFV=129, 12.77 MJ/kg DE, 10.58 MJ/kg ME and 6.50 MJ/kg NEl. The biochemical methane potential of Brassica napus oleifera substrates reached 309-324 L/kg organic matter.
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