Comparison of forage yield,silage fermentative quality,anthocyanin stability,antioxidant activity,and in vitro rumen fermentation of anthocyanin-rich purple corn(Zea mays L.) stover and sticky corn stover

The objective of this study was to observe the forage yield, silage fermentative quality, anthocyanin stability, and antioxidant activity during the storage period and in vitro rumen fermentation of anthocyanin-rich purple corn （Zea mays L.） stover （PS） and sticky corn stover （SS）. Forage yield of corn stover was weighed and ensiled with two treatments： （1） hybrid sticky waxy corn stover （control）, and （2） hybrid purple waxy corn stover （treatment）. Samples were stored in mini-silos for periods of 0, 7, 14, 21,42, 63, 84, and 105 d. The results showed that PS had significantly higher （P〈0.05） yields of dry matter （DM）, organic matter （OM）, gross energy （GE）, crude protein （CP）, neutral detergent fiber （NDF）, acid detergent fiber （ADF）, and total anthocyanins than that of the SS. Anthocyanin-rich purple corn stover silage （PSS） showed higher （P〈0.05） levels of DM and CP relative to the sticky corn stover silage （SSS）. Although anthocyanin-rich PSS displayed a lower （P〈0.05） level of pelargonidin-3-glucoside （P3G）, it had higher （P〈0.05） levels of peonidin （Peo） and pelargonidin （Pel） compared to the control. Delphinidin （Del） and malvidin （Mal） were not detected in SSS during the ensilage period; in PSS, Del was no longer detected after 7 d of ensilage. Specifically, total anthocyanins in anthocyanin-rich PSS decreased rapidly （P〈0.05） prior to 7 d of ensilage, and then remained at relatively stable （P〉0.05） constants. Compared to the anthocyanin-rich PSS, SSS displayed significantly higher （P〈0.05） pH value and ammonia nitrogen （NH3-N） content. Propionic acid （PA） at 0 d and butyric acid （BA） during the entire study period were not detected, whereas anthocyanin-rich PSS showed a higher （P〈0.05） level of lactic acid （LA） than that of the SSS. Compared with the SSS extract, anthocyanin-rich PSS extract showed a higher （P〈0.05） level of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryihydrazyl （DPPH） scavenging activity and displayed a lower （P〈0.05） half maximal inhibitory concentration （IC50） value. Moreover, anthocyanin-rich PSS reduced （P〈0.05） gas production （GP）, and displayed lower levels of immediately soluble fraction and ratio of acetic acid （AA） to PA at 12 h, but the other parameters were unaffected （P〉0.05） relative to the control. Taken together, the results indicated that： （1） anthocyanins could be stable in silage; （2） anthocyanin-rich PSS showed better silage fermentative quality and stronger antioxidant activity; and （3） anthocyanin-rich PSS had no negative effect on rumen fermentation parameters.

Effects of Previously Fermented Juice on Nutritive Value and Fermentative Quality of Rice Straw Silage

The effects of Previously Fermented Juice （PFJ） on the fermentative quality and changes in chemical composition during fermentation of rice straw silage were investigated. The results showed that the PFJ and diluted the PFJ （dPFJ） treated silages had significantly （p〈0.05） lower pH and ammonia-nitrogen content, while significantly higher lactic acid content compared with treatments. This study confirmed that the applying of the PFJ and the dPFJ improved fermentation quality of silage.

Effect of Application of a Bacteria Inoculant and Wheat Bran on Fermentation Quality of Peanut Vine Ensiled Alone or with Corn Stover

To find an effective method for ensiling peanut vine （PV）, fermentation characteristics and nutritional values of PV silage and the mixture of PV with corn stover （CS） silage in a ratio of 1 ： 1 fresh weight, prepared by adding lactic acid bacteria （LAB）, 10% wheat bran （WB） and LAB＋WB at ensiling were evaluated in 2009 and 2010. The fermentation qualities of PV silage ensiled with the LAB and WB additives were improved compared with those of the control （PV ensiled alone）. However, the pH did not decline to the critical level of 4.2, and the nutritional values of the silage were not protected against losses in the LAB and WB addition silages. Ensiling PV in mixture with CS generated optimal moisture content and buffering capacity （BC） of ensiled materials. After adding the LAB and WB additives to mixture silage, especially adding LAB＋WB, the fermentation qualities and nutritional values of the mixture silage were improved significantly （P〈0.05）, and the Flieg＇s score reached to 99. The result suggested that it is a feasible method to ensile the mixed materials of PV with CS by adding LAB and high concentration of water soluble-carbohydrate materials for providing a good fermentation quality of PV silage.

Influence of lactic acid bacteria, cellulase, cellulase-producing Bacillus pumilus and their combinations on alfalfa silage quality

This study assessed the effects of lactic acid bacteria(LAB), cellulase, cellulase-producing Bacillus pumilus and their combinations on the fermentation characteristics, chemical composition, bacterial community and in vitro digestibility of alfalfa silage. A completely randomized design involving a 8(silage additives)×3 or 2(silage days) factorial arrangement of treatments was adopted in the present study. The 8 silage additive treatments were: untreated alfalfa(control); two commercial additives(GFJ and Chikuso-1); an originally selected LAB(Lactobacillus plantarum a214) isolated from alfalfa silage; a cellulase-producing Bacillus(CB) isolated from fresh alfalfa; cellulase(C); and the combined additives(a214+C and a214+CB). Silage fermentation characteristics, chemical composition and microorganism populations were analysed after 30, 60 and 65 days(60 days followed by exposure to air for five additional days). In vitro digestibility was analysed for 30 and 60 days. Compared with the other treatments, selected LAB a214, a214 combined with either C or CB, and Chikuso-1 had the decreased(P<0.001) pH and increased(P<0.001) lactic acid concentrations during the ensiling process, and there were no differences(P>0.05) among them. Fiber degradation was not significant(P≥0.054) in any C or CB treatments. The a214 treatment showed the highest(P=0.009) in vitro digestibility of dry matter(595.0 g kg–1DM) after ensiling and the highest abundance of Lactobacillus(69.42 and 79.81%, respectively) on days 60 and 65, compared to all of other treatments. Overall, the silage quality of alfalfa was improved with the addition of a214, which indicates its potential as an alfalfa silage inoculant.

Effect of lactic acid bacteria and propionic acid on conservation characteristics,aerobic stability and in vitro gas production kinetics and digestibility of whole-crop corn based total mixed ration silage

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of lactic acid bacteria and propionic acid on the fermentation quality, aer- obic stability and in vitro gas production kinetics and digestibility of whole-crop corn based totalmixed ration （TMR） silage. Total mixed ration was ensiled with four treatments： （1） no additives （control）; （2） an inoculant （Lactobacillus plantarum） （L）; （3） propionicacid （P）; （4） propionic acid＋lactic acid bacteria （PL）. All treatments were ensiled in laboratory-scale silos for 45 days, and then subjected to an aerobic stability test for12 days. Further, four TMR silages were incubated in vitro with buffered rumen fluid to study in vitro gas production kinetics and digestibility. The results indicated that all TMR silages had good fermentation characteristics with low pH （〈3.80） and ammonia nitrogen （NH3-N） contents, and high lactic acid contents as well as Flieg points. Addition of L further improved TMR silage quality with more lactic acid production. Addition of P and PL decreased lactic acid and NH3-N contents of TMR silage compared to the control （P〈0.05）. After 12 days aerobic exposure, P and PL silages remained stable, but L and the control silages deteriorated as indicated by a reduction in lactic acid and an increase in pH, and numbers of yeast. Compared to the control, addition of L had no effects on TMR silage in terms of 72 h cumulative gas production, in vitro dry matter digestibility, metabolizable energy, net energy for lactation and short chain fatty acids, whereas addition of PL significantly （P〈0.05） increased them. L silage had higher （P〈0.05） in vitro neutral detergent fiber digestibility than the control silage. The results of our study suggested that TMR silage prepared with whole-crop corn can be well preserved with or without additives. Furthermore, the findings of this study suggested that propionic acid is compatible with lactic acid bacteria inoculants, and when used together, although they reduced lactic acid production of TMR silage, they improved aerobic stability and in vitro nutrients digestibility of TMR silage.

Effect of Lactic Acid Bacterial Inoculants on Rice Straw Silage

The trail was designed to study on technique aspects of ensiling rice straw （RS） appended amounts of lactobacillus. There were two groups according to silage ways, baled silage （BS） and chopped silage （CS）, in which lactobacillus was added at levels of 10, 15 and 20 mg·kg^-1, respectively and the mixtures were placed into a packed polyethylene bags and stored at room temperature for 45 days. The results showed that lactobacillus had remarkable effect on fermentation characteristics of RS. The quality of the silage was improved with the lactobacillus addition. In the experiment the optimal quality of rice straw silage （RSS） can be obtained when lactobacillus was added with 15 or 20 mg·kg^-1 level. The effect of different silage methods was very remarkable to the silage quality of same material. The quality of CS was better than that of long silage, at the same time, BS was feasible on condition of eligible level of lactic acid bacteria.

Utilization of tea grounds as feedstuff for ruminant

Researches on tea have been developed for decades, which prove that tea, especially green tea, has multiple functional components. With the rapid development of beverage industry, the resultant large amounts of tea grounds attract great attention. However, unreasonable utilization of tea grounds would lead to great waste and environmental pollution, especially in summer. In view of the high nutritive value and multiple functional components, tea grounds could be used as feedstuff. By now, researches of tea grounds as feedstuff are mainly on ruminant, as the utilization on other animals is limited to lower level due to high fiber content. Therefore, the following review will begin with a brief introduction of tea grounds and the possible utilization of tea grounds as feedstuff, and then elaborate on the application of ensiling and total mixed ration on ruminant. Apart from the fermentation quality, nutritive value is also provided to assess feasibilities of using tea grounds as feedstuff resources. Finally, a summary on the utilization situation and future direction of using tea grounds as feedstuff is provided in this review.