Author(s): CUNHA, T. R. da; PEREIRA, A. V.; LEDO, F. J. da S.; DAHER, R. F.; MACHADO, J. C.

Summary: The objective of this study was to estimate sugar content variation (°Brix) in 95 accessions from the elephant grass germplasm active bank of Embrapa Dairy Cattle research center, located in Coronel Pacheco, MG, Brazil. The accessions with the highest sugar content were identified, and the effect of plant age on sugar concentration was evaluated. The experiment was conducted in randomized blocks design with two replications. Sugar content analysis occurred twice during the growth-cycle (at 70 and 100 days) along two points of the stem, one 30 cm from the base and the other at the midpoint. The analysis of variance considered the split plot model, with accessions as main plots and plant age as subplots. The means were compared using the Scott Knott test. While there was sugar content variation between accessions, increased plant age had no significant effect on the sugar content. However, some accessions did have a significant increase or decrease in sugar content as they aged. The highest and lowest mean sugar content was 6.96% (in the accession BAG80) and 4.03% (in the accession BAG13) °Brix, respectively

Publication year: 2022

Types of publication: Journal article

Unit: Embrapa Dairy Cattle

Keywords: Brix, Capim Elefante, Forage quality, Forragem, Genetic resources, Idade da planta, Pennisetum Purpureum, Plant age, Recurso Genético