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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (8): 123-133.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2025315

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Effects of additives on the quality and microbial diversity of tea residue silage

Ping-dong LIN1(), Fu-rong MIAO1, Jing LIU1, Wen YUE1, Xin-zhu CHEN1,2()   

  1. 1.Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine,Fujian Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding,Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Fuzhou 350013,China
    2.Fujian Aonong Biotechnology Group Co. ,Ltd. ,Fujian Key Laboratory of Nutrition and Feed,Zhangzhou 363000,China
  • Received:2025-08-05 Revised:2025-09-19 Online:2026-08-20 Published:2026-06-22
  • Contact: Xin-zhu CHEN

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of additives on the quality of tea (Camellia sinensis) residue silage and its associated microbial diversity. Tea residue was used as the primary raw material, and six additive treatment groups were established: a lactic acid bacteria (LAB)-only treatment group (T1), a brown sugar-only treatment group (T2), a cellulase-only treatment group (T3), a combined treatment group of LAB and brown sugar (T4), a combined treatment group of LAB and cellulase (T5), and a combined treatment group of LAB, brown sugar, and cellulase (T6). The experiment also included a control group with no additives (CK). Each treatment group was replicated three times independently, and ensiled for 30 days. Upon completion of the silage process, silages were sampled to analyze their nutritional composition, fermentation quality, anti-nutritional factors, and microbial diversity. The main results were: 1) Additive treatments significantly increased the contents of lactic acid, soluble protein, and soluble sugar, as well as phytase activity in the tea residue silage (P<0.05), while significantly reducing pH, propionic acid content, and phytic acid content (P<0.05). Compared with the CK group, the T4 and T5 groups exhibited significantly higher dry matter and total sugar contents (P<0.05); and the T1, T2, and T5 groups exhibited significantly higher acid detergent fiber content (P<0.05). The total phenol content in the T6 group was significantly decreased (P<0.05) and tannase activity was significantly increased in the T3 group (P<0.05) compared with the CK group. Additionally, the volatile fatty acid content was significantly higher in the T2, T4, and T6 groups than in the CK group (P<0.05). 2) In the microbial community analysis, the dominant phyla across all groups were Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria. At the genus level, the dominant bacteria included Lactobacillus (relative abundance range: 20.0%-81.9%), Acetobacter (0.4%-24.7%), Bifidobacterium (1.1%-16.7%), and Bacillus (7.0%-11.3%). The relative abundance of Veillonella was lower in the T1, T4, and T5 groups than in the CK group. Additionally, the Alpha diversity index of the T4 group was significantly different from that of the other groups (P<0.05). In summary, the use of additives significantly enhanced the quality of tea residue silage and effectively modulate microbial community structure during silage fermentation. Moreover, the combined use of multiple additives demonstrated superior performance compared with single additive treatments. These findings offer a practical reference for the resource-efficient utilization of tea residue.

Key words: tea residue, additives, silage quality, microbial diversity