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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2019, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (12): 205-210.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2019043

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Effects of additives on the quality of mixed silage of amaranth and soybean meal

LI Shun1, MU Lin1, ZENG Ning-bo1, CHEN Dong2, ZHANG Zhi-fei1,*, YE Zhi-gang3   

  1. 1.College of Agronomy, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China;
    2.College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China;
    3.Hunan Zhongxian Ecological Science and Technology Co. LTD, Changsha 410016, China
  • Received:2019-01-14 Online:2019-12-20 Published:2019-12-20

Abstract: The effects of different additives on the quality of mixed silage of amaranth and soybean meal were investigated. Amaranth and soybean meal mixed in a 72%∶28% ratio were used as the silage substrate with seven different additive treatments: molasses, lactic acid bacteria, cellulose complex enzyme, molasses and lactic acid bacteria, molasses and cellulose complex enzyme, lactic acid bacteria and cellulose complex enzyme, molasses and lactic acid bacteria and cellulose complex enzyme, together with a control treatment where an equal amount of water to the additive treatments was applied. After being ensiled for 30 days, the samples were opened and analyzed. It was found that the fermentation quality and nutritional quality of the mixed whole amaranth-soybean meal silages were improved compared to control, when the additives molasses, molasses and lactic acid bacteria, molasses and cellulose complex enzyme or molasses and lactic acid bacteria and cellulose complex enzyme were used. The pH value, dry matter loss, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) levels were significantly (P<0.05) reduced with these additives, and the water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) content and relative feed value (RFV) were significantly improved (P<0.05). The treatments incorporating lactic acid bacteria, cellulose complex enzyme or lactic acid bacteria and cellulose complex enzyme were not ideal, and their pH value, and NDF and ADF content were all higher than the control group (P<0.05). Considering all the data, addition of molasses or molasses and lactic acid bacteria or molasses and cellulose complex enzyme to mixed whole amaranth and soybean meal silage is suggested as optimal.

Key words: Amaranthus hypochondriacus, soybean meal, mixed silage, additives, silage quality