Go to Top Go to Bottom
Animal Breeding and Genetics
Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences 2002;15(2): 218-221.
https://doi.org/10.5713/ajas.2002.218    Published online January 1, 2002.
The Effects of Two Inoculants Applied to Forage Sorghum at Ensiling on Silage Characteristics
Guan Wu-tai, G. Ashbell, Y. Hen, Z. G. Weinberg
Abstract
Whole forage sorghum (saccharatum) cultivar FS5 was harvested at the soft dough (303 9 g kg-1 DM) stage of maturity. The sorghum was chopped into approximately 20 mm pieces and ensiled under laboratory conditions in 1.5 L Weck glass jars. At ensiling, it was treated with two commercial silage inoculants: Pioneer 1188 (Inoculant A) and Eco-corn (Inoculant B). The inoculant A and B was applied at ca 2 105 or 2 104 colony forming units g-1 DM., respectively. Silage with no additives served as a control. Three jars per treatment were opened on days 2, 4, 8, 15 and 60 post-ensiling to study fermentation dynamics. After 60 days of ensiling the silages were analyzed and subjected to an aerobic stability test lasting 5 days. Results showed that both inoculants caused a more rapid rate of pH decrease and a higher amount of lactic acid production. All the silages were well preserved and were stable upon exposure to air. Inoculants did not influence (p>0.05) the ash and total N contents, but tended to reduce acetic acid (p<0.05), butyric acid (p<0.01) and propionic acid (p<0.01) contents, and to increase the lactic acid content (p<0.01). The lower DM content of silages treated with Inoculant A agrees with the greater gas loss resulting from the DM loss, which was in good agreement with the higher yeast counts upon aerobic exposure. Silage treated with inoculant B had the highest DM (p<0.05) and lactic acid contents (p<0.01), and the lowest acetic acid content (p<0.05), which agrees with the rapid reduction of pH and smaller gas loss. Inoculant B reduced the ADF (p<0.01), ADL and NDF (p<0.05) contents, which also indicates smaller losses of organic soluble material. The control silages contained the highest levels of volatile fatty acids but no lactic acid, indicating secondary fermentation. It was concluded that both inoculants may improve the fermentation process, since silages from all treatments were stable upon aerobic exposure, noadvantage could be attributed to any of the inoculants used.
Keywords: Sorghum; Silage; Inoculants


Editorial Office
Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies(AAAP)
Room 708 Sammo Sporex, 23, Sillim-ro 59-gil, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08776, Korea   
TEL : +82-2-888-6558    FAX : +82-2-888-6559   
E-mail : editor@animbiosci.org               

Copyright © 2024 by Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies.

Developed in M2PI

Close layer
prev next