Effects of different cutting methods and additives on the fermentation quality and microbial community of Saccharum arundinaceum silage

Abstract

To develop a new high-yielding and polysaccharide-containing forage resource for livestock, the effects of different cutting methods and additives on Saccharum arundinaceum silage were evaluated. The wilted S. arundinaceum were chopped and knead-wired. The silages from each cutting method were treated with Lactobacillus plantarum (LP), cellulase (CE) and the combination of LP and CE (LP + CE) for 3, 7, 15, 30, and 60 days. Compared with the CK treatment, CE treatment exhibited better effects in the degradation of neutral detergent fiber (NDF), LP exhibited a better performance in preserving the content of dry matter (DM), and adding LP + CE significantly enhanced (P < 0.05) the contents of lactic acid (LA), crude protein (CP) and DM and significantly reduced (P < 0.05) the pH and NDF content during ensiling. In addition, both additives exerted a remarkable effect on the silage bacterial community (P < 0.05), with a dramatic increase in the Lactobacillus abundance and a decrease in the abundance of Enterobacter. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) became the most dominant bacteria that affected the fermentation quality of LP and LP + CE silages. Meanwhile, chopped silages showed better fermentation quality and nutrient preservation and a higher abundance of LAB. Our research indicated that the chopped S. arundinaceum ensiling with LP + CE could exert a positive effect on LA fermentation and preservation of nutrient substances by shifting the bacterial community. In conclusion, S. arundinaceum can serve as a new silage resource for feed utilization by the ensiling method of LP + CE-chopped.

Synergistic effects of ferulic acid esterase‐producing lactic acid bacteria, cellulase and xylanase on the fermentation characteristics, fibre and nitrogen components and microbial community structure of Broussonetia papyrifera during ensiling

“…Previous studies have shown that Enterobacter is undesirable in the fermentation process and can ferment lactic acid to acetic acid and degrade proteins, resulting in nutrient loss. 25,26 In the present study, a greater abundance of Enterobacter was detected in the CK, CE and XY treatment groups, particularly in the CK-7, XY-7, CK-15, CE-15 and CK-60 samples, than in the LP addition treatment groups (P < 0.05). Enterobacter are unfavourable bacteria that can reduce the nutritive value of silage and produce more AA, NH 3 , succinic acid, 2,3-butanediol and some endotoxins.…”

“…These findings might have been obtained because the addition of homofermentative LAB leads to increased homolactic fermentation and greater lactic acid production. 25 Moreover, the LP + CE + CY treatment group had the highest lactic acid concentration (except at 30 days). Furthermore, the lactic acid concentration on days 7 and 15 and the treatment mean in the LP + CE + CY treatment group were significantly greater than those in the LP + CE and LP + XY treatment groups (P < 0.05).…”

“…The Good's coverage values of all the samples were greater than 0.99, which indicates that the depth of the sequencing results can well represent the real situation of the samples and enable better analysis of the microbial community structure. 4,25 The analysis revealed that the observed species, ACE and Chao1 values of the silage samples on the 60th day (except for those in the CE group) were lower than those of the fresh B. papyrifera samples. These findings suggested a decrease in bacterial diversity after silage fermentation, indicating that an anaerobic environment and low pH hinder the growth of most microorganisms.…”

“…These findings suggested a decrease in bacterial diversity after silage fermentation, indicating that an anaerobic environment and low pH hinder the growth of most microorganisms. 24,25 The dynamic differences in the microbial populations of the different treatment groups were analysed via principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) of the bacterial communities. Principal component 1 (PC1) and principal component 2 (PC2) accounted for 68.17% and 13.47%, respectively, of the variance, as shown in Fig.…”

Preservation characteristics and bacterial communities of crimped ensiled barley grains modulated by moisture content and additive application

“…A detailed understanding of the bacterial community composition can provide insight into the relationship between fermentation quality parameters in silage and key bacterial communities ( McAllister et al, 2018 ; Bai et al, 2022 ), which can guide decision making during silage production and development of novel more efficient silage additives. Therefore, several attempts to profile the bacterial communities have been performed focusing on lucerne silage ( McGarvey et al, 2013 ; Guo et al, 2018 ; Wang et al, 2020 ; Li et al, 2022 ), timothy grass silage ( Franco et al, 2022 ), sugarcane silage ( Zheng et al, 2022 ), intercropped maize and soybean silage ( Zeng et al, 2020 ), whole-plant maize silage ( Gharechahi et al, 2017 ; Xu et al, 2021a ), and barley whole crop silage ( Liu et al, 2019 ). According to Franco et al (2022) , specific bacterial communities may modulate the nutritional composition, hygienic quality and the overall ensiling process of the feed as well as influence the silage losses.…”