Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the influence of herbal residues on the fermentation quality and ruminal fermentation of paper mulberry silage. Clove, mint, and purple perilla residues were used as additives. Silage treatments were designed as control (no additives), 5% of clove, 5% of mint, and 5% of purple perilla. After 21 and 75 days of fermentation, the fermentation characteristics, bacterial communities, and ruminal greenhouse gas emissions in vitro incubation of paper mulberry were analyzed. The results showed that the used herbal residues could reduce the protein losses in paper mulberry silage based on the lower contents of ammoniacal nitrogen and nonprotein nitrogen. Compared with control, higher lactic acid and propionic acid contents were observed in the silages treated with mint and purple perilla but with a higher acetic acid content in clove treatment. Real-time sequencing technology (single-molecule real-time) revealed that Lactobacillus was the dominant bacteria in all silages at the genus level, whereas the bacterial abundance in the treated silages differed greatly from control at the species level. Lactobacillus hammesii abundance was the highest in control, whereas Lactobacillus acetotolerans was the first predominant in the treated silages. All the additives enhanced the digestibility of in vitro dry matter significantly. However, purple perilla decreased the production of total gas, methane, and carbon dioxide. The findings discussed earlier suggested that herbal residues have potential effects in improving fermentation quality, reducing protein loss, and modulating greenhouse gas emissions in the rumen of paper mulberry silage by shifting bacterial community composition.
Highlights
In China, approximately 70 million tons of herbal residues are produced each year, but a large amount of them are discarded directly, which causes serious environmental pollution such as groundwater pollution, unpleasant smells, or greenhouse gases emissions (Zhang et al, 2017; Wang et al, 2021)
The fermentation quality mainly depends on the results of the competition between lactic acid bacteria and spoilage microorganisms, as well as the competition and collaboration among lactic acid bacteria species (Yan et al, 2019; Bai et al, 2021)
Different from previous reports (Du et al, 2021; Guo et al, 2021), higher fiber and lower crude protein (CP) contents of paper mulberry in our study might be related to the growth period, harvest time, and cold climatic conditions
Summary
In China, approximately 70 million tons of herbal residues are produced each year, but a large amount of them are discarded directly, which causes serious environmental pollution such as groundwater pollution, unpleasant smells, or greenhouse gases emissions (Zhang et al, 2017; Wang et al, 2021). Herbal Residues Regulate Silage Microorganisms bioactive bioactivity such as cellulose, proteins, flavonoids, polysaccharides, organic acids, and so on (Su et al, 2018; Ni et al, 2020). These biologically active substances exhibit antibacterial, antioxidant, and immune-enhancing properties and can be thought of as alternative, green additives that can replace antibiotics in promoting animal growth and improving the endurance and disease resistance of livestock (Falleh et al, 2020). Plant secondary metabolites could exert more consistent effects than microbial inoculants, as they are less dependent on biological processes
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