Table 3.

Relative concentration and fold-changes in metabolites with biological functions in whole crop corn silage with inoculation of L. buchneri or L. plantarum after 90 days of ensiling.

	Relative concentration1			Fold-changes2
Metabolite name	Control	L. buchneri	L. plantarum	Log2 (B/C)	Log2 (P/C)	Log2 (P/B)
Phenylethylamine	0.179	0.153	0.101	0.227∗	–0.831∗∗	–0.604∗∗
Catechol	0.037	0.020	0.024	5.336	–5.086	0.250
Linoleic acid	0.216	0.077	0.098	3.850∗	–3.510∗	0.340
Ferulic acid	0.465	0.196	0.242	2.369	–2.065	0.304
Myristic acid	0.042	0.024	0.028	0.801	–0.575	0.226
Azelaic acid	0.019	0.020	0.023	3.875	–3.709	0.167
Arachidonic acid	0.009	0.009	0.008	3.428	–3.628	–0.201∗
3-Phenyllactic acid	0.412	0.706	0.875	–0.779∗	1.089∗	0.309∗
3,4-Dihydroxybenzoic acid	0.409	0.247	0.085	0.728	–2.268∗	–1.539∗∗
4-Hydroxybenzoic acid	0.132	0.135	0.145	3.046	–2.943	0.103
4-Hydroxybutyrate	0.182	0.139	0.173	0.390	–0.072	0.318∗
4-Aminobutyric acid	1.446	1.194	0.576	0.276	–1.327∗∗	–1.051∗
Glycolic acid	0.002	0.001	0.001	0.646	–2.417	–1.770

¹The relative concentration of each metabolite is an average of data from three biological replicates using GC-TOF-MS. ²The fold-changes were calculated using the formula log₂ (X/Y). X and Y refer different treatments: C, control; P, Lactobacillus plantarum treatment; B, Lactobacillus buchneri treatment; ^∗0.001 < P < 0.05; ^∗∗P < 0.001. The major metabolites were selected based on at least one of fold-changes [log₂ (B/C), log₂ (P/C), log₂ (P/B)] contrast was statistically significant.