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

Abstract

This study examined the effects of chopping or chopping + blender maceration of red clover or lucerne on pre-fermented juice (PFJ) and determined the effects of PFJs on the quality of red clover silage or lucerne silage. The PFJs from chopping red clover (PFJ-RC) or lucerne (PFJ-LC) had a higher lactic acid bacteria (LAB) count than that from chopping + blender maceration (p IVDMD) (p 3-N/TN) were decreased (p 3-N/TN among treatments (p p IVDMD of both silages correlated negatively with pH, AA, and NH3-N/TN and positively with LA (p 3-N/TN of both silages. Ensiling lucerne or red clover with PFJ from the ensiling material had a more positive effect on the fermentation parameters mentioned above. Satisfactory fermentation parameters detected in the present study contributed to improving the IVDMD of both silages.

Keywords

• pre-fermented juice
• lucerne silage
• red clover silage
• fermentation quality
• in vitro digestibility