Evaluation of Drying Characteristics of Rhodesgrass (Chloris gayana) and New Tetraploid Ruzigrass (Urochloa ruziziensis)

抄録

This study demonstrates the evaluation of the drying rate of different plant parts (leaf blade and stem) under the artificial-drying and the drying rate in whole plants under the sun-drying process using the newly-bred tetraploid ruzigrass (Urochloa ruziziensis: TR) and rhodesgrass (Chloris gayana: CG). For morphological traits, TR had significantly thicker stems, wider leaf blades, and shorter leaf blades compared to CG (P < 0.001). Both grass species exhibited a greater stem diameter (P < 0.05), leaf blade width (P < 0.001) and leaf blade length (P < 0.001) after 2nd cutting compared to the 1st cutting. CG showed a higher rate of leaf parts than TR in the 1st and 2nd cutting, though the differences were not significant. The stem part of both grasses took longer to dry than the leaf part in the 1st and 2nd cutting. Addionally, the differences between TR and CG in the stem parts are smaller than that of the leaf parts. Coefficient analyses revealed that the thinner and longer leaf part, the quicker the drying rate. Additionally, the drying rate was not influenced by fresh matter yield or the ratio of leaf parts but by the temperature in the daytime.