Effects of additives on the fermentation quality and bacterial community of silage prepared from fresh-cut whole-plant quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa willd.)

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different additives on the fermentation quality and bacterial community of silage prepared from fresh-cut whole-plant quinoa (WPQ). Fresh-cut WPQ without wilting process was directly ensiled with one of the following additives: (i) untreated (control); (ii) fibrolytic enzyme (E); (iii) molasses (M); (iv) LAB inoculant (L); (v) a combination of fibrolytic enzyme and LAB inoculant (EL); and (vi) a combination of molasses and LAB inoculant (ML). The fermentation quality and bacterial community after 60 days of ensiling were analysed. The results showed that control silage was dominated by enterobacteria (>50%), with high pH value (5.25), acetic acid (77.9 g/kg DM) and NH3–N production (261 g/kg TN). Adding E, EL and ML shifted the fermentation pattern towards increased intensity of lactic acid production, as indicated by increased lactic acid content (>62.4 g/kg DM), lactic/acetic acid ratio (>1.12) and relative abundance of Lactobacillus (>62.0%), and decreased pH value (<4.73), contents of acetic acid (<60.7 g/kg DM) and NH3-N (<179 g/kg TN) and the relative abundance of enterobacteria. The results suggested that treatments of E, EL and ML could be the feasible solutions for improving the fermentation quality and protein preservation of silage prepared from fresh-cut WPQ. The results of this study could be beneficial for producing high-quality WPQ silage in aeras where wilting is hard to conduct before ensiling. HIGHLIGHTS WPQ silage was prone to acetic acid-type fermentation dominated by enterobacteria. Adding E, EL and ML improved the lactic acid fermentation and protein preservation of fresh-cut WPQ silage. This study provided feasible solutions for producing high-quality WPQ silage under adverse climate conditions.