A study of fermentation characteristics, nutrient content, and microbial population of triticale silage produced with different lactic acid bacteria: Long-term preserved triticale silage for livestock

There has been a lot of attention paid to lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in forage fermentation due to rapid acidification through the production of lactic acid (LA). Triticale is considered one of the best crops to develop high-quality silage due to its high crude protein (CP) content. The objectives of the present study is to develop high quality triticale silage with Pediococcus pentosaceus (2), Lactobacillus plantarum (1), and Lactobacillus rhamnosus (1) as single or cocktail forms and stored for 6 and 12 months. Triticale was wilted under field conditions and then manually cut into 1.5-2.5 cm lengths. Samples of 250g per bag were placed in 28 x 36 cm polythene bags. Different types of LAB were used to ferment the triticale at different moisture conditions by ensiling process. Vacuum sealed bags were stored in laboratory conditions for 6 and 12 months. After the storage period, microbial profiles, fermentative acids, and nutritional content were determined. A correlation triangle matrix was used to determine interactions among fermentative metabolites, nutritive values, and microbes using Python software. A significant reduction in pH was observed for both high moisture (HM) and low moisture (LM) silages produced with LAB in either individual or cocktail form compared to non-inoculum silage. On 6-month fermentation, the pH range of control and inoculum-treated HM silage was 6.11 ± 0.03 to 4.02 ± 0.08, and LM silage was 6.05 ± 0.09 to 3.98 ± 0.52. The pH was reduced in a similar manner on month 12. In addition, LAB significantly increased LA content from 0.48 ± 0.19 to 6.58 ± 0.28 DM% in HM and 0.00 ± 0.00 to 4.34 ± 0.19 DM% in LM on month 6. Silage fermented for 12 months also retained its LA content. Despite this, inoculated silage had higher levels of LA than control silage. Butyric acid (BA) content was significantly lower in inoculum-treated silage than in non-treated silage. In both experimental silages, marginal levels of AA were produced. High LAB and lower yeast and mold counts were found in inoculum-treated silage compared to non-inoculum silage. A cocktail of LAB treatments significantly increased LA content in silages over non-inoculum or single LAB treatments. The correlation study revealed that LA positively correlated with LAB and negatively interacted with yeast and mold. In this study, either single or cocktail LAB treatments significantly improved silage fermentation quality through increased LA content and reduced undesirable microbial populations. Cocktail LAB has a greater potential than single LAB. This evidence suggests that silage developed by combining multiple strains as a cocktail is more suitable for long-term storage of livestock.