Effect of Mixing Alfalfa with Whole-Plant Corn in Different Proportions on Fermentation Characteristics and Bacterial Community of Silage

Musen Wang, Run Gao, Marcia Franco, David B. Hannaway, Wencan Ke, Zitong Ding, Zhu Yu and Xusheng Guo
Additional contact information
Musen Wang: School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Run Gao: College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Marcia Franco: Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Tietotie 2 C, FI-31600 Jokioinen, Finland
David B. Hannaway: Department of Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
Wencan Ke: School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Zitong Ding: School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Zhu Yu: College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Xusheng Guo: School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-11

Abstract: The influence of mixing alfalfa with whole-plant corn in different proportions on the fermentation characteristics and bacterial community of silage was investigated. Alfalfa and whole-plant corn, harvested at dry matter content of 276.47 and 328.43 g/kg fresh weight, accordingly, were chopped to approximately 2 cm and mixed at ratios of 100:0 (C0, control), 80:20 (C20), 60:40 (C40), 40:60 (C60), 20:80 (C80) and 0:100 (C100) on a fresh weight basis, respectively. Silos of each treatment were produced in triplicate and anaerobically fermented in darkness for 100 days at room temperature (20–21 °C). At silo opening, silage fermentation characteristics and bacterial composition and diversity were analyzed. The C0 silage was weakly preserved, evidenced by a low lactic acid concentration and a high value of pH, acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid and ammonia nitrogen. With corn proportion in the mixture increasing from 0% to 40%, silage pH, acetic acid, butyric acid and ammonia nitrogen level decreased, whereas the value of lactic acid and lactic acid to acetic acid ratio increased. The C40, C60, C80 and C100 silages’ Flieg score, used to evaluate the overall fermentation quality, was above 80 and higher than C0 (25) and C20 (61) silages. The C0 silage contained a complex bacterial community at the genus level, consisting mainly of Enterococcus (38.86%), Enterobacteria (20.61%), Rhizobium (8.45%), Lactobacillus (8.15%), Methylobacterium (5.54%) and Weissella (5.24%). As corn percentage increased from 0% to 40%, the relative abundance of desirable Lactobacillus increased and undesirable Rhizobium and Methylobacterium population reduced. With corn proportion in the mixture increasing from 0% to 40%, inclusion of corn to alfalfa at ensiling significantly improved silage fermentation quality and shifted the bacterial community for better silage preservation. Overall, high quality silage was produced when alfalfa was combined with at least 40% whole-plant corn on a fresh weight basis.

Keywords: conservation characteristics; forages mixing; microflora; Medicago sativa; Zea mays (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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