Fermentative Profile, Chemical Composition and In Situ Rumen Degradability of Capiaçu Elephant Grass Silage Wilted or with Added Cornmeal

Silage is an essential tool for maintaining productivity, especially during the dry season and when pasture availability is limited. However, it is necessary to establish increasingly efficient methods for producing this feed, seeking to minimize losses and provide maximum nutritional benefit. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of Cenchrus purpureus (Schumach.) Morrone cv. BRS Capiaçu silage with cornmeal addition or after 3 or 5 days of wilting, focusing on fermentative profile, chemical composition, and in situ degradation. A completely randomized design with four treatments and three replicates was used: Control (CON), ensilage with 8% ground cornmeal (SGC), wilting for 3 days (WI3), and wilting for 5 days (WI5), totaling 12 silos. After 120 days, the silages were analyzed for pH, volatile fatty acids, chemical composition, and rumen degradability using three cannulated cows. Data were subjected to ANOVA and Tukey’s test (p < 0.05). The SGC and WI3 treatments showed lower pH (4.55 and 4.52) and butyric acid (0.27 and 0.33%) and higher lactic acid (2.32 and 1.57%) contents compared with CON and WI5 (p < 0.001). They also presented higher dry matter (257.2 and 318.3 g/kg) and crude protein (63.8 and 58.5 g/kg) and lower fiber fractions (p < 0.001). For rumen degradability, SGC had the highest values for fraction “A” and effective degradability of dry matter at 5 and 8%/h passage rates (p = 0.001). Cornmeal addition and 3-day wilting improved silage quality, but only cornmeal enhanced degradability.