. Silage is very palatable to livestock and can be fed at any time, they have also been used as substrate in biogas production. We studied the quality of silage prepared from non-traditional plant species of Asteraceae family: elecampane (Inula helenium), Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), eastern purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) grown in experimental land of the Botanical Garden (Institute) of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova and compared it with the control – sunflower (Helianthus annuus). The silage obtained from these species, by organoleptic characteristics (smell, colour and consistency) and biochemical indices (pH, content and correlation of organic acids, chemical composition of the dry matter), largely meets the standards. The silage prepared from Asteraceae species contains 0.12- 0.23 nutritive units supplied with metabolizable energy for cattle 1.22- 2.32 MJ/kg, the digestible protein content is of 51-104 g/nutritive unit. The highest methane production was achieved with the sunflower, Helianthus annuus silage substrate (290.8 L/kgVS), followed by the Echinacea purpurea substrate (258.4 L/kgVS), the Inula helenium substrate produced 236.4 L/kgVS and the Helianthus tuberosus - 231.8 L/kgVS.

Asteraceae species, biochemical composition, biomethane, Echinacea purpurea, Helianthus annuus, Helianthus tuberosus, Inula helenium, nutritional value, silage

Presentation: oral