Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of wilting and Lactobacillus plantarum (LP) addition on the silage fermentation quality and microbial community of Moringa oleifera Lam. leaf silage. Unwilted (direct-cut) or wilted M. oleifera leaves were prepared either with or without LP (1.0 × 106 cfu/g) followed by either 60 or 120 days of ensiling, leading to eight treatment groups. The results showed that lactic acid was the dominant fermentation product, and no butyric acid was detected for any of the treatments. Higher acetic acid and propionic acid were detected during the fermentation of wilted silage compared to unwilted silage. Although NH3-N content increased after wilting, the content was far below 10% of the dry matter (DM). In addition, higher pH was observed after 120 days of ensiling compared to 60 days. Wilting also influenced the bacterial community structure. Lactobacillus was the most dominant genus in unwilted samples while Enterobacteriales, Weissella, and Pantoea were the most dominant genera in wilted samples. Furthermore, the relative abundance of undesirable microorganisms was far below that of lactic acid bacteria in all treatments. In summary, wilting had significant effects on fermentation quality, and it was shown that M. oleifera leaves can undergo quality ensiling directly without the addition of LP.
Highlights
With the rapid development of the economy in China, the availability and price of concentrates, regarding adequate and high protein sources, have become serious problems for animal feed
Lactic acid was the dominant fermentation product, whereas, for all treatments, butyric acid, and the coliform bacteria count were below the detectable levels after ensiling
Wilting had no significant effect on the lactic acid content or the pH, but the interactions between wilting and number of ensiling days, and between wilting and Lactobacillus plantarum (LP) addition, were significant (P < 0.05)
Summary
With the rapid development of the economy in China, the availability and price of concentrates, regarding adequate and high protein sources, have become serious problems for animal feed. Many fodder trees with higher levels of crude protein, digestible nutrients, and minerals have been used to ameliorate this problem (Alsersy et al, 2015; Kholif et al, 2016). One of these fodder trees is Moringa oleifera Lam., which has received considerable attention during recent years (Zheng et al, 2016). M. oleifera is commonly known as the “drumstick tree.”. Because of the large variation in feed production over the year, there is a need to develop a method to preserve the plant for use when high-quality feed sources are scarce
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