Abstract:

The current study was undertaken to investigate the effects of acid-based preservative (AP) on fermentation, hygienic and post-storage quality as well as digestibility of low dry matter (DM) direct cut wheat silages. Wheat was harvested at boot stage of maturity (265 g DM kg-1). Silages with no additive served as control (AP0). The AP was applied at 2 mL kg-1 (AP2), 3 mL kg-1 (AP3) and 4 mL kg-1 (AP4) of fresh forage weight. After AP treatment, the chopped forages were ensiled in 1.5 L anaerobic jars. Four jars per treatment were sampled on d 90 after ensiling, for chemical and microbiological analysis. Overall, AP treatment did not affect (P>0.05) the concentrations of lactic and acetic acid of the wheat silages. In contrast, inclusion of AP increased the concentrations of formic and propionic acid whereas decreased the concentrations of butyric acid, ethanol, ammonia-N and fermantation losses when compared to the control silage (P<0.05). Under aerobic conditions, AP treated silages had lower pH, CO2 production and the numbers of yeast and mold than AP0 (control) silage (P<0.05). Fibrous fractions were decreased (P<0.05) with the application of AP, but 96 h in vitro gas production and in vitro organic matter digestibility of the silages were not affected (P>0.05) by AP inclusion. In conclusion, the AP administration in to direct-cut wheat silage apparently improved fermentation properties and post storage quality. Its antimicrobial properties caused a reduction in proteolysis.

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