Effects of flavouring agents on intake of silage by feedlot steers

Thirty-five yearling Hereford steers with an average weight of 358 ± 32 kg were randomly assigned to one of five groups of seven animals to determine the effect of adding flavouring agents to grass-legume silage at feeding time. The trial was designed as a 5 × 5 Latin square with each group receiving each of the 5 treatments for a 12-d period. The flavouring agents chosen represented major taste groups: sweet (aspartame (Asp) at 0.025% as fed), acid (hydrochloric acid (HCl) at 0.625% as fed), salt (sodium chloride (NaCl) at 0.6% as fed), and monosodium glutamate (MSG) at 1% as fed. Daily intakes were measured. Monosodium glutamate increased silage intake (P < 0.05). The results suggest that addition of MSG may be of possible practical use as a silage additive to increase silage intake by yearling steers. Key words: Steer, aspartame, monosodium glutamate, intake, flavour, silage