Effect of various additives on the fermentation quality of corn silage

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of biological silage additives with and without chemical salts on the fermentation parameters of whole plant corn silage. The experiment consisted of five treatments: two with lactic acid bacteria (LAB without chemical salts), two with combined additives (LAB + chemical salts), and a control. Firstly, control ( C ) and subsequently facultatively heterofermentative ( A ) and obligately heterofermentative ( B ) LAB (LAB1: L. plantarum A , L. brevis B , E. faecium A ; LAB2: L. plantarum A , L. buchneri B , P. pentosaceus A ) were examined. After that, LABCHSE inclusive of obligately homofermentative ( C ) and facultatively heterofermentative ( A ) LAB (L. plantarum A , L. salivarius C , E. faecium A , P.acidilactici C ) + chemical salts (sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate) + enzymes (cellulase, hemicellulase, pentosanase, amylase) were evaluated. The last variant LABCHS with LAB (L. plantarum A , E. faecium A , P. acidilactici C ) + chemical salt (potassium sorbate) was consisted. After six weeks of storage, the results confirmed that the application of additives can affect the quality of the fermentation process by decreasing lactic acid as a result of heterofermentative bacteria fermentation, the most strongly marked additive based on L. buchneri. The addition of all additives increased the titratable acidity and acetic content, which manifested in a narrowed lactic/acetic acid ratio and an increased pH value because of heterofermentative bacteria fermentation. The addition of additives containing chemical salts affected the fermentation process more favourably compared to the addition of additives without chemical salts, particularly by inhibiting alcohol content.