Accelerating Zizania latifolia leaf silage fermentation using lactic acid bacteria

Employing Zizania latifolia (Z. latifolia) leaf as ruminant forage offers a sustainable solution to food security and environmental concerns, with its demonstrated ability to reduce farming costs representing a critical implementation advantage. To overcome the pratical limitation of natural fermentation quality variability, this study evaluated two pre-screened lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (LP) and Pediococcus pentosaceus (PP), for the potential of LAB to standardize and enhance Z. latifolia production. Through controlled ensiling experiments (LP, PP vs uninoculated control CK) combined with high-throughput sequencing technology and genomic function prediction, we mechanically elucidated how LAB optimize the fermentation process at the microbial community and metabolic pathway levels. The results demonstrated that LAB inoculation fundamentally altered the fermentation dynamics: (1) Rapid acidification: Both the LP and PP groups achieved pH < 4.2 within 3 days (vs. CK failed to reach this threshold even after 42 days), with butyric acid contents maintained at < 1 g/kg dry matter (DM) (vs 4.84 g/kg DM in CK). (2) Nutritional superiority: Inoculated groups showed 86% (LP) and 52% (PP) higher crude protein retention than CK. (3) Microbial dominance: High-throughput sequencing revealed that the relative abundance of LAB exceeded 90% within 24 h post-inoculation (vs < 35% in CK), explaining the suppressed spoilage microbiota. (4) Mechanistic insight: Gene function prediction identified quorum sensing-mediated biofilm disruption as the key accelerator. This synergistic effect enabled 35-day cycle shortening while enhancing nutritional quality, establishing a new efficiency benchmark for agri-waste valorization.