Additives Containing Bacteria and Enzymes for Alfalfa Silage

Abstract

First-cutting alfalfa was wilted, harvested from alternate rows, left untreated or treated with additives containing lactic acid bacteria and enzymes (cellulase, amylase, and pectinase), and ensiled in bag silos. Inoculation increased lactic acid bacteria from 5 x 10(4) to 1 x 10(6) cfu/g of forage. Because treatments were bagged consecutively, the DM of treated silages was higher than that of untreated silage. However, after 4 d of ensiling, the pH of treated silage, about 4.3, was lower than that of untreated silage, 4.7, and remained lower throughout the ensiling period. After 177 d of ensiling, total lactate was about 25% higher, and ammonia N was about 40% lower, in treated silage. In addition, NDF and ADF contents were lower in treated than in untreated silage. Between 51 and 177 d of storage, glucose content increased in treated silage, but not in untreated silage, suggesting that some plant cell-wall hydrolysis occurred during prolonged storage. In vitro digestion of NDF did not differ among treatments during early incubation, but the extent of digestion after 36 and 48 h was lower in treated than in untreated silage. The microbial and enzyme silage additives used in this study improved fermentation characteristics and reduced fiber content of silage but decreased the in vitro digestibility of fiber.

The Effects of Adding Lactic Acid Bacteria and Cellulase in Oil Palm(Elais GuineensisJacq.) Frond Silages on Fermentation Quality, Chemical Composition and in Vitro Digestibility

“…This reasoning is in line with the observation that the addition of cellulase significantly increased lactate concentrations with a concomitant decrease in pH. Thus, it can be suggested that the addition of cellulase effectively provided more substrate for fermentation by the LAB (Stokes, 1992;Ridla and Uchida, 1993;Sheperd et al, 1995). Furthermore, the addition of LAB instead of cellulase significantly increased the lactic acid content, suggesting that the numbers of epiphytic LAB in OPF may limit the conversion of sugars into lactate to attain a pH <4.5.…”

“…This result is corroborated by Ridla and Uchida (1993) who also showed that the addition of cellulase decreases the content of cell wall carbohydrates associated with the NDF and ADF content. It appears that the additional cellulase stimulated the conversion of cellulose to WSC thereby rendering glucose available for LAB and potential subsequent conversion to lactate (Stokes, 1992;Ridla and Uchida, 1993;Sheperd et al, 1995). The effective degradation of NDF and ADF by cellulase is also reflected by the improvement of DM digestibility.…”

Silagem de alfafa colhida no início do florescimento e submetida ao emurchecimento e à ação de aditivos biológicos

“…A utilização conjunta de lactobacilos e enzimas (celulase, hemicelulase, pectinase etc.) têm apresentado resultados controvertidos; alguns autores citam efeitos positivos nos parâmetros fermentativos (WOOLFORD, 1984;SHEPERD et al, 1995) e outros indicam a possibilidade de ações antagônicas (STOKES, 1992). Outros trabalhos têm constatado pouco efeito de inoculantes microbianos e aditivos enzimáticos sobre a eficiência da fermentação de silagens de alfafa (WHITE et al 1990), sugerindo que a inoculação com bactérias formadoras de ácido lático somente seria efetiva quando suplementada com carboidratos solúveis ou ainda com aumento dos níveis de MS (VALINOTTI e PICHARD, 1993).…”

Ensiling corn silage with different levels of a multi-species lactic acid bacteria inoculant

“…Lactobacillus buchneri). Homofermentative LAB inoculants enhance the rate of acidification and reduce the final pH or protein breakdown in silages (Sheperd et al 1995;Weinberg and Muck 1996;Driehuis et al 1997;Aksu et al 2004). However, homofermentative LAB could induce aerobic deterioration of whole-crop cereal silages due to insufficient production of volatile fatty acids (VFA) to inhibit fungi (Weinberg et al 1993;Filya et al 2000).…”