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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2015, Vol. 24 ›› Issue (5): 126-133.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb20150515

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Effects of wilting and additives on fermentation quality of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) silage

LIU Hui1, 2, BU Deng-Pan2, LV Zhong-Wang2, LI Fa-Di1, LIU Shi-Jie3, ZHANG Kai-Zhan4, WANG Jia-Qi1, 2, *   

  1. 1.College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China;
    2. State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China;
    3. China Feed Industry Association, Beijing 100125, China;
    4.Beijing Sino Farm, Beijing 100028, China
  • Received:2014-11-18 Online:2015-05-20 Published:2015-05-20

Abstract: The effect of wilting and different additives on alfalfa silage fermentation and nutritive value were studied under laboratory conditions. Alfalfa (at the early bloom stage of maturity), wilting 3 and 12 h respectively, was ensiled at 72.6% and 61.8% moisture content either untreated (CK) or treated with inoculant (LAB), sugar beet pulp (SB), inoculant and sugar beet pulp (LAB+SB), sodium formate (SF) and the combination of sodium formate and sugar beet pulp (SF+SB). Silo was opened and analysed after 65 d of ensiling. The results showed that additives addition generally had an significantly effect on alfalfa silage characteristics in terms of lower pH and ammonia-N concentration (P<0.01). Treated silage had a similar concentration of neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and dry matter recovery compared with untreated silage. The addition of sugar beet pulp (SB) greatly reduced crude protein concentrations (P<0.05). Water-soluble carbohydrate concentrations were found increased in silage from alfalfa herbage treated with inoculant and sugar beet pulp combined and sodium formate prior to ensiling (P<0.05). As silage wilting enhanced, silage quality was improved. In general, different additives had different effect on ensiling. Inoculant and sugar beet pulp combined (LAB+SB) was found to be the most effective additive.