Ensiled whole-plant oats are an important feedstuff for ruminants in large parts of the world. Oat silage is rich in dietary fibers, minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals beneficial to animal health. The fermentation of oat silage is a complex biochemical process that includes interactions between various microorganisms. The activity of many microbes in silage may cause an extensive breakdown of nutrition and lead to undesirable fermentation. Moreover, it is difficult to make high-quality oat silage because the number of epiphytic lactic acid bacterium microflora was lower than the requirement. Understanding the complex microbial community during the fermentation process and its relationship with community functions is therefore important in the context of developing improved fermentation biotechnology systems. These results suggested that the addition of Lactobacillus plantarum or Lactobacillus buchneri regulated the ensiling performance and microbial community in oat silage by shaping the metabolic pathways.
Keywords: fermentation quality; lactic acid bacteria; microbial community; oat silage.