Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the four kinds of additives on the silage quality and the relevant bacterial community diversity by Illumina HiSeq 16S rRNA sequencing. The four kinds of additives were Lactobacillus plantarum (LP), organic acids including gallic acid (GA) and phenyllactic acid (PA), pectin (PEC), and enzymes including pectinase (PEE) and cellulase (CE). After 30 d of fermentation, the pH value was shown to have the lowest value in the PEE and PEC groups, followed by the PA group, and then in CE and GA groups; the highest value of pH was found in both LP and control groups. The ammonia nitrogen concentration was lower in the PEE group compared to the other groups except for the PA group. In the comparisons among the seven groups, Lactobacillus was higher in the LP group, Paracoccus was higher in the GA group, Weissella was higher in the PA group, Leuconostoc was higher in the PEC group, Bacillus, Aeromonas, and Curvibacter were higher in the PEE group, and Coriobacteriaceae_UCG_002 was higher in the CE group compared to the other groups. This study proposed that the addition of PEC and PEE improved the fermentation quality of alfalfa silage compared to other additives by improving the bacterial community of Leuconostoc, and Bacillus and Aeromonas, respectively. Moreover, the enhanced fermentation quality of alfalfa silage by the supplementation of PEC and PEE might be attributed to other unclassified genera. This study provides an implication that pectin degradation is an important determinant for alfalfa silage fermentation through the rescheduling of bacterial community diversity.
Highlights
Silage is one of the main ingredients and energy and digestible fiber sources in ruminant diets, especially for dairy cattle [1]
The PEE and PEC groups had the lowest pH value, followed by the phenyllactic acid (PA) group, and by the CE and gallic acid (GA) groups, and the highest pH was found in the Lactobacillus plantarum (LP) and CON groups (Table 1)
The ammonia nitrogen concentration was lower in the PEE group compared to the other groups except for the PA group
Summary
Silage is one of the main ingredients and energy and digestible fiber sources in ruminant diets, especially for dairy cattle [1]. Made silage can harbor pathogens, reduce animal performance, cause diseases of cattle, and even potentially endanger human health [5]. It is, crucial to perform proper quality control by additives’ supplementation including organic acids, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), sugars, and enzymes to generate more lactic acid and lower pH value during ensiling [4]. A recent study found that gallic acid could help to improve the preservation of protein and antioxidant capacity during the ensiling of Moringa oleifera leave that has high protein composition [12]. We hypothesized that the addition of the enzymes and chemical additives may have efficient roles in improving the fermentation quality of alfalfa silage
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