Effect of Cultivar, Plant Spacing and Harvesting Age on Yield, Characteristics, Chemical Composition, and Anthocyanin Composition of Purple Napier Grass

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Napier grass is a vegetative propagation and can survive repeated cuttings and rapidly regrow. It is favorable for leafy cattle. Purple Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum “Prince”), as a dwarf Napier grass, contains anthocyanin content. Anthocyanins are pigments found in many plants. Anthocyanin was found to have several functional and biological properties, including antioxidant activity. We found that variations in cultivars, plant spacing, and harvesting age are crucial to increasing their performance and are the main factors affecting their characteristics, chemical composition, and anthocyanin composition. ABSTRACT: Purple Napier grass is a semi-dwarf, purple-leaved Napier grass. The purple color is anthocyanins. Anthocyanin is classified as a group of flavonoids. It has antioxidant properties. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of plant spacing and harvesting age on the forage yield, morphological characteristics, chemical composition, and anthocyanin composition of purple Napier grass. An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of plant spacing and harvesting age on the forage yield, morphological characteristics, chemical composition, and anthocyanin composition of purple Napier grass when grown on a sandy soil. The cultivars were Napier Pakchong 1 (Pennisetum purpureum × Pennisetum americanum cv. Pakchong 1) and purple Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum “Prince”), with plant spacings of 50 × 50, 50 × 75, and 75 × 75 cm, and the harvesting ages were 45, 60, and 75 days. The experiment was a 2 × 3 × 3 factorial layout in a randomized complete block design with four replications, for a total of 72 plots, each 5 × 5 m. The purple Napier grass had a higher number of tillers per plant than the Napier Pakchong 1 grass. The LSR value (leaf/stem ratio) was influenced by the interaction of cultivar × plant spacing × harvesting age. The purple Napier grass planted at 75 × 75 cm for 45 days had the highest LSR value. The crude protein of the purple Napier grass, the grass planted at 75 × 75 cm, and the grass for 45 days were significantly higher than the other treatments. The purple Napier grass planted at 75 × 75 cm for 45 days had the highest (p < 0.05) anthocyanin content. It was concluded that purple Napier grass planted at 75 × 75 cm for 45 days would contain the proper number of tillers per plant, LSR value, chemical composition for ruminants, and the highest anthocyanin composition.