Effect of Homo-Fermentative Lactic Acid Bacteria Inoculants on Fermentation Characteristics and Bacterial and Fungal Communities in Alfalfa Silage
Date
2022-11-10
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Fermentation
Abstract
We evaluated the effects of a homo-fermentative lactic acid bacteria (homo-LAB) inoculant on the fermentation and microbial communities of alfalfa ensiled at two dry matter (DM) contents of 38 and 46% DM. At both DMs, alfalfa was treated or not with an inoculant containing Pediococcus acidilactici, Enterococcus faecium and Lactobacillus plantarum at a targeted application rate of 165,000 cfu/g of fresh weight and stored for 3, 30 and 60 days. Treatment with the inoculant resulted in a lower drop in pH and, in general, higher lactic acid and lower acetic acid when applied to medium DM silage. For the four most abundant microbial genera, increased abundances of Bacteroides and Lactobacillus (p < 0.05), as well as decreased abundances of Muribaculaceae were observed in high DM and inoculated silages. The abundance of Prevotellaceae-UCG-001 was lower in medium DM control silages than in high DM control silages. Inoculation and DM affected abundances of Vishniacozyma (p < 0.05). Increased abundances of Vishniacozyma, as well as decreased abundances of Leucosporidium were observed in medium DM-inoculated silages. Changes in the relative abundance (RA) of the main populations of bacteria and yeasts did explain the fermentation and nutrition differences among treatments.
Description
This article was originally published in Fermentation. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation8110621
Keywords
microbial inoculants, alfalfa silage, dry matter, microbial community, relative abundance
Citation
Li, Yanbing, E. B. da Silva, Jingchun Li, and L. Kung Jr. 2022. "Effect of Homo-Fermentative Lactic Acid Bacteria Inoculants on Fermentation Characteristics and Bacterial and Fungal Communities in Alfalfa Silage" Fermentation 8, no. 11: 621. https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation8110621