Exploring the silage quality of alfalfa ensiled with the residues of astragalus and hawthorn

Kuikui Ni; Xuekai Wang; Yin Lu; Linna Guo; Xiaomei Li; Fuyu Yang

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2019.122249

Exploring the silage quality of alfalfa ensiled with the residues of astragalus and hawthorn

Bioresour Technol. 2020 Feb:297:122249. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.122249. Epub 2019 Oct 9.

Authors

Kuikui Ni¹, Xuekai Wang¹, Yin Lu¹, Linna Guo¹, Xiaomei Li¹, Fuyu Yang²

Affiliations

¹ College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
² College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. Electronic address: yfuyu@126.com.

PMID: 31761631
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.122249

Abstract

This study evaluated the effect of astragalus (AS) and hawthorn (HN) residues on the silage quality of alfalfa. Alfalfa was ensiled with additives (AS, HN and AS + HN) or without additives for 60 days. Results showed that the silage treated with AS and HN had lower contents of butyric acid and NH₃-N compared with control, whereas no significant differences of pH and lactic or acetic acid content were found. Additionally, the treated silages also exhibited lower copy numbers of Clostridium, Enterobacter and fungi during ensiling process established by qPCR. In conclusion, AS and HN could be used as additives to control the growth of unfavorable microorganism and enhance the silage quality.

Keywords: Alfalfa; Astragalus; Hawthorn; Silage; qPCR.

MeSH terms

Acetic Acid
Crataegus*
Fermentation
Medicago sativa
Silage*

Substances

Acetic Acid