Table 4.
Effects of silage additives on rumen fermentation characteristics and microbial counts in cows fed the experimental silages
| Experimental silages
|
SEM | p-value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No additive | FJLB | Molasses | Cassava | |||
| pH | 6.8 | 6.9 | 6.5 | 6.8 | 0.21 | 0.6820 |
| Acetic acid, C2 (mol/100 mol) | 72.6 | 72.2 | 70.6 | 67.3 | 4.08 | 0.3912 |
| Propionic acid, C3 (mol/100 mol) | 18.2 | 17.9 | 18.5 | 19.5 | 3.14 | 0.7506 |
| Butyric acid, C4 (mol/100 mol) | 9.2 | 9.9 | 10.7 | 13.2 | 1.6 | 0.3241 |
| NH3-N (mg/dl) | 17.1 | 17.6 | 20.1 | 20.8 | 1.18 | 0.1635 |
| BUN (mg/dl) | 13.3 | 17.2 | 13.6 | 15.4 | 2.66 | 0.7258 |
| Viable bacteria (log cfu/ml) | ||||||
| Amylolytic bacteria | 5.8 | 5.7 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 0.05 | 0.6422 |
| Proteolytic bacteria | 5.8 | 5.9 | 6.1 | 5.7 | 0.18 | 0.4397 |
| Cellulolytic bacteria | 7.1 | 7.2 | 7.3 | 7.2 | 0.17 | 0.7874 |
FJLB = Fermented juice of epiphytic lactic acid bacteria; NH3-N: Ammonia-nitrogen, BUN = Blood urea nitrogen; SEM = Standard error of means.