Fermentation quality and nutritive value of total mixed ration silages based on desert wormwood (Artemisia desertorum Spreng.) combining with early stage corn

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the fermentation quality and nutritive value of total mixed ration (TMR) silages based on desert wormwood (DW) combined with early stage corn (ESC) as forage and determine an optimum formula. Desert wormwood and ESC were harvested, chopped, and mixed with other ingredients according to a formula, packed into laboratory silos at densities of 500-550 g/L, and stored in the dark for 60 days. The DW proportions in the forage of TMR were 1, 0.75, 0.50, 0.25 and 0, based on fresh weight. As the proportion of DW decreased, the pH also decreased (P < 0.05), while lactic acid, lactic acid/acetic acid, crude protein, starch, and the in vitro digestibility of dry matter and neutral detergent fiber increased (P < 0.05). Ammonia nitrogen/total nitrogen in the TMR silages with DW proportions of 0.75, 0.25 and 0 in the forage was more than 10%. These results indicated that the quality of the TMR silage containing DW alone as forage was poor, TMR silages containing DW proportions of 0.75 and 0.25, and ESC alone, in the forage were not well preserved. The optimum TMR silage formula contained a DW proportion of 0.5 in the forage.

Effects of Adding Pre-Fermented Fluid Prepared from Red Clover or Lucerne on Fermentation Quality and In Vitro Digestibility of Red Clover and Lucerne Silages

“…Moreover, the plant cell wall negatively influences the digestibility of silage [40], which was reflected by the negative correlation of IVDMD with NDF and ADF for both silages in the present study (Table 6). Similarly, previous studies also reported that the higher IVDMD was detected in silages with lower NDF and ADF concentrations [27,41].…”

“…The propionic and butyric acids were detected only in Control silages at a very low level (Table 4) because the high DM content (401 and 398 g/kg, respectively) and ideal anaerobic environment may have caused a certain decrease in activity of undesired microorganisms during ensiling process in Control silages. The ratios of lactic acid to acetic acid in Control silages were below one (Table 4) and indicated that abnormal fermentations had occurred in the silages [27,28], resulting from activity of Enterobacteriaceae dominating the bacterial community in Control silages during fermentation process. Enterobacteriaceae could thrive in anaerobic and weak acidic conditions [29] and ferment WSC and lactic acid to acetic acid, succinic acids, ethanol, or 2,3-butanediol [30,31].…”

Replacing Alfalfa with Paper Mulberry in Total Mixed Ration Silages: Effects on Ensiling Characteristics, Protein Degradation, and In Vitro Digestibility

“…In contrast, NDF content decreased slightly in all silages after fermentation in this study. Yin et al [ 33 ] ascribed this increase to acid hydrolysis of cell wall fractions during silage fermentation. Overall, substituting RY with alfalfa in TMR silages did not have adverse effects on ether extract content, but effectively increased CP content and decreased NDF content over the control silages, suggesting an improved nutritive composition of TMR silages by introducing RY.…”

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“…Proteolysis via the action of plant and microbial proteases is an inevitable consequence of silage fermentation (Thomas et al, 1980;Hassanat et al, 2007). The ammonia-N level indicates the degree of silage preservation during fermentation, because ammonia-N, a component of non-protein nitrogen, exhibits low utilization in the rumen (Ke et al, 2015;Xue et al, 2017;Yin et al, 2017). In the present study, ammonia-N remained at a low level (from 3.28 to 35.3 g/kg) during ensiling in all treatments (Figure 1).…”