Fermentative profile of maize silage inoculated with Lactobacillus buchneri

Abstract

Biological silage additives can assist in making silages by promoting a rapid reduction in silage pH and preventing aerobic deterioration. The current Lactobacillus buchnerion the market produces acetic acid slowly and identifying strains that would improve aerobic stability earlier in the ensiling process would be helpful. This study aimed to investigate the changes in microbial population, dry matter (DM) recovery and fermentation profile of maize silage with or without inoculation with L. buchneri after 45 days of ensiling. The wild L. buchneri strains were isolated from tropical maize silage in a previous study. Four strains of L. buchneri (56.22, 56.27, 56.28 and 56.29) were used as inoculants. Data from the silo openings were analyzed as a completely randomized design, with four replicates per treatment (inoculants). Selected strains did not affect the DM content, yeast and mould population, DM recovery, water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC), lactic acid and butyric acid of maize silage after 45 days of ensiling (p> 0.05). The pH, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) population and concentrations of acetic and propionic acids and ethanol were affected by inoculants (p < 0.05). The strains 56.22, 56.27 and 56.28 showed lower pH than the untreated control silage, but lower acetic acid concentration.

Keywords

• Lactic acid bacteria
• Organic acids
• Silage additive
• Zea mays L.