Methods for reduction of water soluble carbohydrate content in grass forages for horses

A large number of factors influence water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) concentration in forages. Four of these were studied; effect of conservation method (silage, haylage, hay); effect of using bacterial inoculants in silage and haylage; effect of storage time; and effect of soaking. Grass forage was harvested as silage (400g dry matter (DM)/kg) and haylage (600gDM/kg) in laboratory silos and as hay (840gDM/kg). Silage and haylage were preserved with and without a bacterial inoculant. All forages were sampled at 3, 6, 12 and 18 months of storage. Forages stored for 3 and 12 months were soaked in water for 12 and 24h to evaluate soaking as a method to reduce WSC concentration. Concentrations of glucose, fructose, sucrose and fructans were analysed using an enzymatic-spectrophotometric method and total WSC concentration calculated as the sum of these. Conservation method influenced concentration of WSC and its components, as silage had lower content of glucose, fructose and WSC compared to haylage and hay; and silage and haylage contained less sucrose and fructans compared to hay (P