THE EFFECT UPON FERMENTATION AND NUTRITIVE-VALUE OF SILAGES PRODUCED AFTER TREATMENT BY 3 DIFFERENT INOCULANTS OF LACTIC-ACID BACTERIA APPLIED ALONE OR IN COMBINATION

Silages were made from the first cut of a predominantly perennial ryegrass sward. The silages were either untreated (W) or treated with formic acid (3 1 t-1, F) or with 10(6) lactic acid bacteria (LAB) g-1 grass of each of three strains alone (A, Lactobacillus plantarum MTD1; B, Pediococcus species 6A2; C, L. plantarum 6A6) or in combination (AB, AC) to give seven treatments. The silage fermentation in 10-kg silos was followed chemically and microbiologically and the nutritive value of selected treatments evaluated using 2-t silos. The control silage (W) fermented well. Addition of formic acid restricted fermentation and produced a silage with a high ethanol concentration. After day 4, all inoculated silages had lower pH values and higher lactic acid concentrations and a higher ratio of lactic acid to acetic acid than the control silage. Chemically there was little difference between the inoculated silages in terms of final composition. Microbiologically the LAB applied in treatments B and C dominated the LAB populations in those silages when applied alone; however, they were suppressed when applied in combination with inoculant A. When fed to sheep, the intake of the formic acid-treated silage was significantly (P < 0.01) lower than that of the other silages and the intake of silage treated with inoculant A significantly (P < 0.001) higher than that of silages treated with inoculants B and C. The apparent organic matter (P < 0.001) and nitrogen (P < 0.01) digestibilities of the formic acid-treated silage were also significantly lower than those of the other silages.