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Conservation of herbage of varying dry matter content in air‐tight metal containers with reference to the carbohydrate fraction
Author(s) -
Anderson B. K.,
Jackson N.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740210504
Subject(s) - hemicellulose , dry matter , fermentation , chemistry , xylose , butyric acid , mannitol , fructose , fraction (chemistry) , food science , cellulose , arabinose , agronomy , biochemistry , biology , chromatography
Herbage at four different dry matter levels, 19·8, 28·0, 37·5 and 45·0%, was ensiled in air‐tight metal containers. There was no loss as inedible waste and this together with the low losses of constituents demonstrated the efficiency of this system of conservation. The mean dry matter loss from the silos was 6%. There was no discernible trend in the dry matter losses with increasing dryness of the ensiled material. The presence of butyric acid and the low levels of volatile nitrogen indicated a saccharolytic type of clostridial activity. Arabinose, galactose and xylose arising from the breakdown of hemicellulose were detected in the silages but the loss of the hemicellulose fraction was low. The presence of mannitol, which was most prevalent in the wilted‐grass silages, indicated a substantial degree of a heterolactic fermentation of fructose. In the material of low dry matter concentration a homolactic fermentation was predominant.