Fermentation Characteristics, Chemical Composition, and Aerobic Stability in Whole Crop Corn Silage Treated with Lactic Acid Bacteria or Artemisia argyi

Huili Pang, Pilong Zhou, Zishan Yue, Zhenyu Wang, Guangyong Qin, Yanping Wang, Zhongfang Tan () and Yimin Cai ()
Additional contact information
Huili Pang: School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China
Pilong Zhou: School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China
Zishan Yue: School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China
Zhenyu Wang: School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China
Guangyong Qin: School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China
Yanping Wang: School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China
Zhongfang Tan: School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China
Yimin Cai: School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-21

Abstract: Whole crop corn silage (WCCS) been an important source of roughage for confined ruminants. However, at the silage feed-out phase, the rise in temperature and relative humidity under aerobic conditions breeds the production of undesirable microorganisms, such as yeast and mold. In order to investigate the conservation characteristics and aerobic stability underlying the effects of additives in whole crop corn silage (WCCS), whole crop corn (WCC) at the milk-ripe stage was ensiled with Lentilactobacillus ( L. ) buchneri (LB) and different proportions of Artemisia argyi (AA) for 90 days (d) at room temperature, respectively, and aerobic exposure after 90 d fermentation was also conducted. The study found that AA as an additive improved the fermentation quality and enhanced aerobic stability of WCCS, for which the addition of 60% AA increased the lactic acid fermentation rate, with the lactic acid concentration at the end of aerobic exposure significantly higher than in all other treatment groups, at 98.21 g/kg DM ( p < 0.01), which decreased the relative abundance of none wanted microorganisms and reduced the content of fungal toxins ( p < 0.05). After 90 d of fermentation, LB also increased the organic acids and reduced the pH compared with control, thereby improving fermentation quality. Furthermore, we also discovered that the relative abundance of Candida within the 60% AA was the highest. Candida have the ability to convert WSC into organic acids and lower pH, thus improving the quality of silage. Particularly, 60% AA could improve the fermentation quality and aerobic stability of silage through the biosynthetic pathways of phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan, as well as by participation in the hydrolysis of glycoside hydrolases (GHs). Unexpectedly, the addition of AA was found to reduce the relative abundance of antibiotic resistance genes. WCC, ensiled with 60% AA, exhibited excellent fermentation quality and aerobic stability, providing a theoretical basis for understanding the mechanisms of AA which improve the quality of WCCS during the aeration phase.

Keywords: whole crop corn silage; Artemisia argyi; fermentation quality; aerobic stability; antibiotic resistance gene (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
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/7/1015/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/7/1015/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:7:p:1015-:d:1423593

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().