The effect of a lactic acid bacterial inoculant with enzymes on the fermentation dynamics, intake and digestibility of Digitaria eriantha silage

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of applying a bacterial i noculant with enzymes to D. eriantha on the fermentation dynamics during en siling, the aerobic stability, intake and digestibility of the silage. The grass was ensiled, with or without the addition of a lactic acid bacterial inoculant at 10(6) colony forming units per gram of fresh material, in Cryo vac barrier bags, The inoculant Sil-All (Supplied by Alltech Biotechnology) contained Lactobacillus plantarum, Steptococcus faecium and Pediococcus ac idilactici together with the enzymes, cellulase, hemicellulase and amylase. To follow the fermentation dynamics during ensiling samples were taken on days 1, 2, 5, 9 and 44 of ensiling for chemical and microbiological analysi s. The inoculant resulted in a more rapid drop in pH, a higher level of lac tic acid and lactic acid bacteria, less protein breakdown and lower numbers of enterobacteria, clostridial spores. yeast and mould compared to control silage. Silage was made on a larger scale in two tower silos (1.5 t silage capacity) for each of the control and inoculated treatment. D. eriantha ha y was also made at the same time. Silage and hay diets were fed to 24 Merin o rams (n = 8 per treatment), weighing 62 +/- 2.7 kg to determine intake an d digestibility. The intake of diets consisting of 90.9% D, eriantha hay, c ontrol silage or inoculated silage, differed significantly (p < 0.05) at 13 95, 1540 and 1848 g DM day(-1) respectively. The in vivo organic matter dig estibility (g kg(-1)) of D. eriantha hay, untreated silage and inoculated s ilage diets was 561, 546, 574, respectively. The addition of the bacterial inoculant when ensiling D, eriantha resulted in better preservation, improv ed aerobic stability, as well as a higher in vivo organic matter digestibil ity and intake of D. eriantha silage. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Scienc e B.V. All rights reserved.