Stem characteristics of two forage maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars varying in whole plant digestibility. III. Intra-stem variability in anatomy, chemical composition and in vitro rumen fermentation

Abstract

The internodes of forage maize (Zea mays L.) stems were studied at anthesis for variation in anatomy and chemical composition in relation to digestibility. The study was carried out with a short (Vitaro) and a tall (Volens) cultivar differing in whole-plant digestibility, both of which were grown in the field in the growing seasons of 1999 and 2000. Internode diameter increased from the top to the base of the stem and Vitaro had shorter and thicker internodes than Volens. The cell walls of the sclerenchyma tissue in the rind were thicker and the numbers of sclerenchyma layers around vascular bundles in the rind higher in lower than in upper internodes. The neutral detergent fibre content (NDF%) of the internodes increased from the top to the base of the stems of both cultivars, but was very high for the peduncle. NDF% was lower for Vitaro than for Volens in all internodes. The sugar content of the dry matter was highest for Internode 12, i.e., the internode near the position of the ear, and was very low for the peduncle. Vitaro always had a higher sugar content than Volens. When subjected to fermentation tests with rumen fluid in an automated gas production system, gas production values after 3, 20 or 72 h of incubation were higher for internodes from the top than for internodes from the base of the stem, and were lower for the peduncle than for Internode 14. The values were consistently higher for Vitaro than for Volens internodes; in general, this difference was most apparent for Internode 10. The differences in gas production amongst internodes and between cultivars were in line with differences expressed by in vitro digestibility measurements. Fermentation results of cross sections suggest that the cell walls in lower internodes disappeared faster and to a greater extent than the cell walls in upper internodes, except for Volens in 1999, and with the exception of the peduncle. The rate of cell wall disappearance was higher for Volens than for Vitaro, but ultimately similar amounts of cell wall material disappeared.