ABSTRACT. The aim of this study was to evaluate nutritional value, fermentation losses, and aerobic stability of elephant grass silage (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) treated with exogenous fibrolytic enzymes. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four replicates (experimental silos) and five levels of fibrolytic enzymes (0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5 and 6.0%). For this, the elephant grass was ensiled at 70 days of age in plastic buckets with 20L capacity. Silos were opened 60 days after sealing. Analyses were made for chemical composition, in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), effluent losses (EL), gas losses (GL) and dry matter recovery (DMR), as well as the aerobic stability of the silage. Data were analyzed with PROC REG of SAS® University, at 5% probability. There was an increase in IVDMD content (p < 0.0001) and reduction in NDF and ADF contents (p < 0.0001) according to enzyme levels. These results were related to the increase in the degradation of fiber fractions. There were higher EL (p = 0.0062) as a function of enzyme levels and aerobic deterioration after silo opening, at all levels tested. Thus, it can be concluded that the exogenous fibrolytic enzymes change the chemical composition of elephant grass silage, and increase its digestibility and nutritional value. Moreover, when used alone as an additive, fibrolytic enzymes are not able to recover all dry matter of this silage (with effluent and gas losses), and are not able to maintain aerobic stability in the first hours after opening the silos.

Objetivou-se com este trabalho avaliar o crescimento inicial de plântulas de M. urundeuva estabelecidas em diferentes substratos. O trabalho foi realizado no Laboratório de Sementes e no Viveiro de Mudas da Universidade Estadual da Bahia (UNEB), Barreiras, BA. As sementes foram coletadas de árvores daquela universidade. Foi utilizado o delineamento inteiramente casualizado com seis tratamentos e quatro repetições, sendo os tratamentos T1: solo; T2: areia; T3: solo + areia + esterco; T4: casca de madeira; T5: bagaço de cana-de-açúcar + esterco; e T6: bagaço de cana-de-açúcar + esterco + cinzas. A semeadura foi realizada em bandejas plásticas, com diferentes substratos, utilizando-se 20 sementes, colocadas a uma profundidade de 1,0 cm. Foram avaliados o índice de velocidade de emergência (%), a altura da parte aérea e da radícula, o comprimento das plântulas e das folhas, o número de folhas e as massas verde e seca da parte aérea e da radícula. Plântulas estabelecidas utilizando casca de madeira como substratos obtiveram melhores resultados quanto ao número e comprimento das folhas, altura da parte aérea e massa verde e seca da parte aérea. Em contraste, os percentuais de índice de velocidade de emergência obtiveram os piores resultados em plântulas estabelecidas em substratos com casca de madeira. Os resultados de radículas não diferiram entre as plântulas estabelecidas com os diferentes substratos. Os substratos contendo composto de casca de madeira ou bagaço de cana + esterco forneceram as melhores condições para o crescimento inicial de plântulas de M. urundeuva.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the initial growth of seedlings of M. urundeuva established in different substrates. The study was carried out at the Laboratory of Seeds and Nursery Plants of UNEB, Barreiras, Bahia State, Brazil. Seeds were collected from trees at the University Campus. The experimental design was a completely randomized with four replications and six treatments: T1 soil, T2 sand, T3 soil + sand + manure, T4 wood bark, T5 sugar cane bagasse + manure; T6 sugar cane bagasse + manure + ash. The seeds were sown in plastic trays with different substrates, using 20 seeds at 1.0 cm of depth. We evaluated the index of emergency speed (%), height of shoot and radicle, length of seedlings and leaves, leaf number, fresh and dry mass of shoots and radicle. Established seedlings using wood bark as substrates obtained better results regarding to the number and length of leaves, shoot height, fresh and dry mass of shoots. In contrast, percentage of emergency speed index obtained the worst results in seedlings established on substrates with wood bark. The rootlets results did not differ between the seedlings established in different substrates. The substrates containing wood bark or sugar cane bagasse + manure, provide the best conditions for the initial growth of M. urundeuva seedlings.

O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar as probabilidades de ocorrência de períodos secos e chuvosos na região de Sete Lagoas, MG, a partir de uma série de 66 anos de dados diários de precipitação pluvial, visando subsidiar a definição da melhor data de semeadura do milho. Foram considerados dias secos aqueles que apresentaram precipitação inferior à evapotranspiração do milho, ETmilho. O estudo foi realizado para as fases de floração e enchimento de grãos a partir de sete datas de semeadura DS (01/10, 16/10, 31/10, 15/11, 01/12, 16/12 e 31/12). As chances de ocorrência dos períodos secos e chuvosos foram estimadas mediante o uso da cadeia de Markov. A probabilidade de ocorrência de dias secos foi sempre superior à de dias chuvosos. As maiores possibilidades de ocorrência de dias secos foram observadas entre as DS 15/11 e 31/12. A maior probabilidade de ocorrência de dias chuvosos foi registrada na DS 01/10. Considerando o ciclo médio estudado (para a fase mais crítica do milho), a combinação de menor chance de períodos secos com a de dias chuvosos indica que as melhores datas para iniciar a semeadura de sequeiro seriam as de DS 01/10 e 16/10.

The objective of this study was to determine the probability of dry and rainy occurrence periods in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, from a historical series of 66-year-long daily rainfall data to establish the best sowing date for corn crop. Dry days were considered as those that had precipitation below corn evapotranspiration, ETcorn. This study was carried out for the stages of flowering and grain filling, starting from seven sowing times ST (10/01, 10/16, 10/31, 11/15, 12/01, 12/16 e 12/31). The probabilities of occurring dry and rainy spells were estimated by the Markov´s chain. The probability of occurring dry days was always higher than rainy days. The highest probability of dry days were found between ST 15/11 and DS 31/12. The highest probability of occurring rainy days was recorded at ST 01/10. Considering the studied average cycle (for the most critical stage of corn development), the combination of the lowest probability of dry spells with the highest probability of rainy days indicates that the best dates to initiate non-irrigated sowing should be ST 01/10 and 16/10.

The phytochemical investigation of Bakeridesia pickelii Monteiro led to the isolation of seven compounds: beta-sitosterol, a mixture of sitosteryl-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside and stigmasteryl-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, quercetin 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (isoquercitrin) and kaempferol-3-O-beta-D-(6"-E-p -coumaroyl) glucopyranoside (tiliroside), which was isolated as the major component. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data such as IR, ¹H and 13C NMR, including two-dimensional techniques. Tiliroside relaxed the guinea-pig ileum pre-contracted with KCl 40 mM (EC50 = 9.5 ± 1.0 x 10-5 M), acetylcholine 10-6 M (EC50 = 2.3 ± 0.9 x 10-5 M) or histamine 10-6 M (EC50 = 4.1 ± 1.0 x 10-5 M) in a concentration-dependent manner.