Table 3.

Meta-analysis on wilting effects on silage quality

Variables	NC	Estimate	Lower bound	Upper bound	Std. error	p-value	τ2	Q	Het. p-value	I2
Chemical content
Dry matter	71	4.48	3.63	5.33	0.43	<0.001	8.76	523.42	<0.001	86.63
Crude protein	55	−0.19	−0.53	0.14	0.17	0.27	0.79	113.58	<0.001	52.46
Water-soluble carbohydrate	51	1.34	0.44	2.23	0.46	0.003	8.46	480.63	<0.001	89.59
Neutral detergent fiber	34	0.43	0.01	0.85	0.21	0.04	0.68	60.79	0.002	45.72
Acid detergent fiber	27	0.93	0.38	1.48	0.28	<0.001	1.17	61.20	<0.001	57.52
Ammonia	71	−1.16	−1.69	−0.63	0.27	<0.001	3.87	418.48	<0.001	83.27
Ash	15	0.87	−0.52	2.27	0.71	0.22	5.34	127.62	<0.001	89.03
Dry matter losses	30	−1.59	−2.61	−0.58	0.52	0.002	5.82	164.96	<0.001	82.42
pH and organic acid
pH	138	0.08	−0.36	0.53	0.23	0.71	4.78	805.02	<0.001	83.23
Lactic acid	127	−0.83	−1.29	−0.37	0.24	<0.001	4.79	746.46	<0.001	83.25
Acetic acid	122	−2.37	−2.90	−1.85	0.27	<0.001	6.19	687.13	<0.001	82.39
Propionic acid	45	−0.38	−1.06	0.29	0.34	0.26	3.68	206.27	<0.001	78.67
Butyric acid	90	−2.46	−3.14	−1.79	0.34	<0.001	7.10	653.99	<0.001	87.00
Microbial population
Lactic acid bacteria	15	0.40	−0.26	1.06	0.34	0.23	0.89	29.75	0.008	52.95
Yeast	14	0.12	−1.14	1.38	0.64	0.85	3.97	56.60	<0.001	78.80
Aerobic bacteria	14	0.78	−0.02	1.58	0.41	0.06	1.25	29.18	0.004	58.88
Silage digestibility
In vitro dry matter digestibility	18	−0.06	−0.59	0.48	0.28	0.84	0.52	27.85	0.047	38.95