Table 2. Measurements of leaf structure and epiphytic lactic acid bacteria of different forage species (n = 36).
| Forage species | Lactic acid bacteria (log10 CFU g−1 FM) | Leaf length (cm) | Leaf width (cm) | Leaf thickness (μm) | Cell wall thickness (μm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maize | 3.37 ± 0.27d | 59.0 ± 3.09a | 8.63 ± 0.08b | 50.6 ± 2.10gh | 5.40 ± 0.41bc |
| Beggarticks | 4.83 ± 0.12ab | 4.97 ± 0.13f | 3.02 ± 0.16f | 87.4 ± 3.26fhg | 4.70 ± 0.36c |
| White goosefoot | 5.22 ± 0.02a | 5.06 ± 0.18f | 4.72 ± 0.23de | 110 ± 1.47efg | 2.09 ± 0.22f |
| Common bean | 4.35 ± 0.05d | 7.95 ± 0.42cd | 6.66 ± 0.44c | 413 ± 11.9c | 3.00 ± 0.21ef |
| Morning glory | 4.59 ± 0.07b | 7.85 ± 0.32cd | 6.24 ± 0.27c | 168 ± 9.54de | 6.55 ± 0.49a |
| Perilla | 3.85 ± 0.32cd | 8.44 ± 0.46c | 6.33 ± 0.39c | 31.0 ± 3.77 h | 5.90 ± 0.32ab |
| Tomato | 3.56 ± 0.24d | 8.53 ± 0.53c | 5.44 ± 0.35cd | 536 ± 38.4b | 4.45 ± 0.35cd |
| Chili pepper | 3.57 ± 0.24d | 6.97 ± 0.39cde | 3.30 ± 0.20f | 812 ± 62.5a | 5.30 ± 0.43bc |
| Sweet potato | 3.38 ± 0.27d | 11.1 ± 0.89b | 9.20 ± 0.97b | 187 ± 8.74d | 6.75 ± 0.25a |
| Peanut | 3.76 ± 0.31cd | 5.75 ± 0.26ef | 2.92 ± 0.14f | 129 ± 5.35def | 5.25 ± 0.34bc |
| Potato | 3.86 ± 0.11cd | 6.47 ± 0.27def | 3.83 ± 0.21ef | 51.8 ± 2.21gh | 3.70 ± 0.31de |
| Malva verticillata | 3.61 ± 0.12d | 11.5 ± 0.78b | 12.5 ± 0.81a | 110 ± 2.89efg | 3.25 ± 0.23e |
| SEM | 0.11 | 0.84 | 0.28 | 36.8 | 0.15 |
| P | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
Notes.
Different lowercase letters in the same column represent significant difference among forage species (P < 0.05), with detailed information on which species differ significantly provided in the main text. SEM, standard error of the means, it measured the degree of difference between the sample mean and the population mean.