Ítalo Espinoza Guerra, Ángel Virgilio Cedeño Moreira, Jorge Geovanny Muñoz-Rodríguez, Diego Javier Conrrado-Palma, Evelyn Ibeth Catota-Yugcha
The study evaluated the microbiological and fermentative characteristics of forage maize (Zea mays) silage with different levels of inclusion of passion fruit peel (Passiflora edulis). A completely randomized design was used with five treatments: T1 (100% maize silage), T2 (75% maize + 25% peel), T3 (50% + 50%), T4 (25% + 75%), and T5 (100% peel), with five replicates. The study was conducted at the Ruminology Laboratory of the Experimental Campus “La María” of the Technical State University of Quevedo. Microbiological variables were evaluated, including colony-forming units (CFU) of total bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, fungi, and yeasts, as well as aerobic stability variables such as pH and temperature. The results showed no significant differences (p > 0.05) among treatments for the evaluated microbiological variables. However, T2 presented the highest total bacteria value, while T1 showed the highest lactic acid bacteria and T4 the lowest. For fungi and yeasts, T2 had the highest counts. Temperature increased progressively, reaching 28.4 °C in T1 on the sixth day. pH values ranged from 4.70 to 5.93 during the first 96 hours, increasing thereafter. It is concluded that the inclusion of passion fruit peel increases pH without significantly affecting the fermentative microbiota.