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A survey of fermentation products and bacterial communities in corn silage produced in a bunker silo in C hina
Author(s) -
Wang Chao,
Han Hongyan,
Gu Xueying,
Yu Zhu,
Nishino Naoki
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
animal science journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.606
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1740-0929
pISSN - 1344-3941
DOI - 10.1111/asj.12076
Subject(s) - silage , fermentation , lactobacillus buchneri , corn stover , food science , chemistry , dry matter , lactic acid , acetic acid , zoology , butyric acid , forage , agronomy , biology , biochemistry , lactobacillus plantarum , bacteria , genetics
To evaluate the current practice of corn silage management in C hina, samples of bunker‐made silage were collected from 14 farms within a 500‐km radius of B eijing for the analysis of fermentation products and bacterial communities. Mean values for dry matter ( DM ) content were as low as 250 g/kg in both corn stover ( St ) and whole crop corn ( Wc ) silages, and pH values averaged 4.48 and 3.73, respectively. Only three of the 14 silages exhibited a lactic‐to‐acetic acid ratio > 1.0, indicating that the presence of acetic acid was predominant in fermentation. Although 1,2‐propanediol content was marginal in most cases (< 5.0 g/kg dry matter ( DM )), two Wc silages had 1,2‐propanediol levels > 25 g/kg DM . In contrast, 3 St silages had large amounts (> 10 g/kg DM ) of butyric acid, and two of the three butyrate silages also had high concentrations of 1‐propanol. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis demonstrated that the bacterial community appeared similar in 10 out of the 14 silage samples. Bands indicating L actobacillus buchneri, L . acetotolerans and A cetobacter pasteurianus were found in both the St and Wc silages, accounting for the high acetic acid content found across silage samples.