Screening Lactic Acid Bacteria Strains for Their Tolerance to Increased Osmotic Pressure and Their Suitability to Ensile High Dry Matter Forages

Siriwan D. Martens (), Wolfgang Wagner, Mariana Schneider, Klaus Hünting, Susanne Ohl and Christof Löffler
Additional contact information
Siriwan D. Martens: Department of Animal Husbandry, Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology (LfULG), Am Park 3, 04886 Köllitsch, Germany
Wolfgang Wagner: Agricultural Technology Center (LTZ) Augustenberg, Nesslerstr. 25, 76227 Karlsruhe, Germany
Mariana Schneider: Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture (LfL), Institute for Animal Nutrition and Feed Management, Prof.-Dürrwaechter-Platz 3, 85586 Poing, Germany
Klaus Hünting: Experimental and Training Centre Agriculture Haus Riswick, Chamber of Agriculture North Rhine-Westphalia, Elsenpass 5, 47533 Kleve, Germany
Susanne Ohl: Research and Training Centre Futterkamp, Chamber of Agriculture Schleswig-Holstein, Gutshof, 24327 Blekendorf, Germany
Christof Löffler: Agricultural Centre for Cattle Production, Grassland Management, Dairy Food, Wildlife and Fisheries Baden-Württemberg (LAZBW), Atzenberger Weg 99, 88326 Aulendorf, Germany

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-11

Abstract: Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) should not only survive, but also perform under increased osmotic pressure in the process of ensiling, which results from the best practice of wilting forage. Simple laboratory protocols are needed to select suitable LAB strains as inoculants for high dry matter (DM) conditions. The aim of this study was to simulate conditions of high osmolality without inducing salt stress and to select a suitable indicator of LAB performance. For that, an MRS medium was enriched with increasing concentrations of glucose and fructose plus a maximum of 28 g KCl/L until achieving an osmolality of 2.4 osmol/kg. Both, growth in the inoculated medium and pH decline, were then compared to the LAB performance in the basic medium. The latter was clearly delayed in the new medium. Finally, the method was validated by comparing the pH of small-scale grass silages of 30–35 and 45–49% target DM after 3–5 days of ensiling to the pH values of the microbiological growth medium. The pH levels of treatments with the homofermentative LAB were clearly attributable to the dry matter or the sugar concentration, respectively. The developed liquid growth medium sufficiently approximates high DM conditions to select for the osmotolerant homofermentative LAB.

Keywords: biological silage additives; ensiling; growth medium; osmolality; protocol; strain selection; wilting; validation (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: 2024
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