Abstract
It is difficult to make good quality of silage from alpine gramineous from the Qinghai Tibetan plateau. The effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on the fermentation quality and aerobic stability of Siberian wildrye silage were studied in southeast of the Qinghai Tibetan plateau. Siberian wildrye materials were freshly cut at the sprouting stage, flowering stage, and milky stage. Silage was prepared by using a small‐scale silage fermentation system (bag silos). Lactobacillus plantarum (LP, 5 × 108 cfu/kg FM), Lactobacillus buchneri (LB, 5 × 108 cfu/kg FM) and their mixture (LP+LB, 5 × 108 cfu/kg FM) as silage additives were separately added to ensiled forages, and no additive served as control (CK). These bag silos were kept at room temperature (<15°C), and the silage qualities were analyzed after 60 days of ensiling. The number of indigenous LAB on fresh materials was less than that of yeasts and molds, and LAB species showed specification adapted to low temperature. LAB inoculated silages had lower (P < 0.05) pH value, NH 3‐N/TN and butyric acid content compared with control silage. Silage treated with LB had higher contents of acetic acid, propionic acid, WSC and CP. However, the aerobic stability of silages inoculated with LAB did not differ significantly between stages (P > 0.05). When fermentation characteristics, chemical composition, and aerobic stability were considered, treatment with L. plantarum resulted in high quality of Siberian wildrye silage harvested at the flowering stage in the alpine region.
Highlights
Siberian wildrye (Elymus sibiricus L.), as the type species of the genus Elymus, is a perennial, self-pollinating and allotetraploid grass indigenous to Northern Asia (Dewey 1974)
Two experiments were conducted in the experiment base of the Sichuan Academy of Grassland Science, which was located on the southeast edge of the Tibetan Plateau (N 31°51′-33°33′, E 101°51′-103°22′)
The pH value increased, the concentrations of lactic acid (LA) and acetic acid (AA) decreased (P < 0.05), and no significant (P > 0.05) difference between maturity stages was found about AA, propionic acid (PA), and aerobic stability
Summary
Siberian wildrye (Elymus sibiricus L.), as the type species of the genus Elymus, is a perennial, self-pollinating and allotetraploid grass indigenous to Northern Asia (Dewey 1974). In subalpine meadows with less than 4000 m altitude in the Qinghai Tibetan plateau, Siberian wildrye usually serves as an important feed resource for ruminants, because of its several desirable agronomic traits such as high yield, hardness, disease tolerance, and high nutrient values, which is comparable to that of oat and highland barley. It is difficult to make good quality of silage from alpine gramineous (i.e., oat and reed canary grass), because of low temperature, insufficient lactic acid bacteria (LAB), and intensive UV radiation in Qinghai Tibetan plateau (Li et al 2012). To improve the fermentation quality and decrease nutrient loss during ensiling, LAB is applied to promote the adequate lactic acid production, decrease pH in silage and improve safe feeding of the livestock. We propose, regardless of maturity stage of ensiling materials, application of LAB could improve silage quality in alpine regions, like as in median or tropical regions
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