Table 1.
Fermentation parameters of ensiled products in the present study, as compared to those ‘established goals’ as well as typical values for conventional corn silage, legume silage, or grass silagea.
| Analyte | Corn silage | Legume / Grass silage | The present study | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Typical range | Goal | Typical range | Trial 1 | Trial 2 | Trial 3 | |||||
| (28–32% DM) | Legume silage (28–32% DM) | Grass silage (32–36% DM) | FFV | FFV + CC | FFV + SMC | FFV + CS + SMC + WBG + MS | FFV + CS | FFV + CS + WBG | |||
| pH | 3.9 | 3.88 | < 4.5 | 4.91 | 4.57 | 3.7 ± 0.02 | 3.9 ± 0.02 | 4.0 ± 0.03 | 4.0 ± 0.5 | 3.9 ± 0.01 | 4.4 ± 0.09 |
| Lactic acid (%DM) | 4–7% | 5.16% | 4–7% | 4.87% | 4.72% | 10.2 ± 1.0 | 5.9 ± 0.9 | 12.0 ± 0.8 | 4.0 ± 1.6 | 5.9 ± 0.4 | 1.2 ± 0.6 |
| Acetic acid (%DM) | < 2% | 3.49% | < 3% | 3.80% | 2.05% | 2.9 ± 0.4 | 2.1 ± 0.4 | 1.4 ± 0.4 | 0.7 ± 0.4 | 4.2 ± 0.3 | 6.2 ± 0.8 |
| Propionic acid (%DM) | < 0.5% | 0.35% | < 0.5% | 0.33% | 0.13% | n.d.b | n.d | n.d | 0.2 ± 0.1 | n.d | 0.9 ± 0.07 |
| Butyric acid(%DM) | < 0.01% | 0.03% | < 0.1% | 0.91% | 0.34% | n.d | n.d | n.d | n.d | n.d | n.d |
| Total acids(%DM) | 9.05% | 9.9% | 7.2% | 13.1 ± 1.4 | 8.0 ± 1.3 | 12.9 ± 0.2 | 5.1 ± 2.1 | 10.1 ± 0.6 | 8.4 ± 0.8 | ||
| Lactic acid (% total acids) | 65–70% | 57.25% | 65–70% | 49.1% | 65.2% | 78.2 ± 1.1 | 73.4 ± 1.6 | 89.5 ± 2.7 | 74.5 ± 16.0 | 58.4 ± 0.8 | 16.5 ± 7.0 |
| NH3-N (% total N) | < 7% | 8.58% | < 10% | 16.4% | 9.12% | 2.2 ± 0.4 | 2.5 ± 0.7 | 1.1 ± 0.1 | 1.4 ± 0.8 | 1.7 ± 0.04 | 1.6 ± 0.04 |
| 1,2 Propanediol (when present) | 1.30% | n.d | n.d | n.d | n.d | n.d | n.d | ||||
aData for the goals and conventional silages were from Ward and de Ondarza35.
bAbbreviations: FFV for fresh fruit and vegetables; CC for corn cobs; CS for corn stalks; SMC for spent mushroom compost; WBG for wet brewers’ grains; MS for mushroom stems, and n.d. for analyte not detected. Deviations from reference values are in italics.