Effects of chemical and microbial additives on clostridium development in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) ensiled with lime

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare strategies to prevent clostridium growth in sugarcane silages added with lime. In Experiment 1, treatments were (as fed basis): no additives (Control), 15g lime kg(-1) (L), 15g lime kg(-1) + 1.5g sodium benzoate kg(-1) (L+B), 15g lime kg(-1)+0.7g sodium nitrite kg(-1) (L+N), 15g lime kg(-1)+Lactobacillus buchneri (5x10(5)cfug(-1)) (L+LB) and 15g lime kg(-1)+Lactobacillus plantarum (5x10(5)cfug(-1)) (L+LP). Plastic buckets (20L) were used as experimental silos. Silage fermentative losses and aerobic stability were also evaluated. Lime treatment was not effective in decreasing dry matter (DM) losses compared with control silage (121 and 158gkg(-1), respectively). On the other hand, L+LB, L+B, L+LP and L+N treatments significantly decreased DM losses (70, 73, 87 and 98gkg(-1), respectively). The aerobic stability of silages L (172h), L+B (155h) and L+N (223h) was substantially higher compared to those treated with L+LB (49h), L+LP (48h) and control (52h). Control silages had low counts of clostridia (log 3.3cfug(-1)) whereas L and L+LB treated silages reached very high clostridium counts (log 6.7 and log 6.0cfug(-1), respectively). The remaining treatments resulted in intermediate values. In Experiment 2, sugarcane treated with lime (15gkg(-1)) received the following doses of sodium nitrite prior to ensiling: 0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5gkg(-1) as fed. Treatments did not affect clostridium counts but decreased butyric acid and 2,3-butanediol. The silage with the highest nitrite dose decreased the butyric acid content substantially compared to other treatments but the final level (5.9gkg(-1) DM) was above the target value for well-fermented silage. None of additives combined with lime were able to provide completely butyric acid free silages.

Keywords

Aerobic stability; clostridium; dry matter losses; lime; silage fermentation

Published in

Grassland Science
2016, volume: 62, number: 3, pages: 135-143
Publisher: WILEY-BLACKWELL

SLU Authors

• Pauly, Thomas

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/grs.12124

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/83246