Four sorghums of high size, moist and sugary stem, and three sorghums of small size, dry and sugarless stem were used in order to determine the neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) values. The mean value of NDF was 63.3% for high size sorghums and 65.5% for low size sorghums. The ADF values ranged from 33.1 to 35.7 in the fresh matter and from 30.1 to 34.3% in silages with 56 days of fermentation. There was a decrease in the hemicellulose values with the advance of fermentative process showing their utilization as an extra sources of carbohydrates. It was observed variation in the cellulose contents with the fermentation progress in some sorghums. The lignin means in the fresh material and on 56 days were, respectively, 5.9 and 4.6%. The mean IVDMD on 56 days of fermentation was 54.8% ranging from 51.3 to 58.5%.
Silage; sorghum; chemical composition; IVDMD
