. 2022 Dec 5;13:1070175. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1070175

Table 2.

Dynamics of fermentation characteristics of alfalfa silage inoculated with lactobacillus.

Item¹	Ensiling days	Treatment²					SEM³	Significances⁴
Item¹	Ensiling days	C	LCO	LCA	LPL	LPE	SEM³	D	T	D × T
pH	7	5.47^b	5.61^a	5.43^b	5.61^a	4.89^e	0.03	***	***	***
	15	5.45^b	5.39^bc	5.57^ab	5.53^ab	4.87^e
	60	5.35^bc	5.19^d	5.30^c	5.32^bc	4.87^e
Ammonia-N (g/kg TN)	7	77.7^c	96.8^b	78.6^c	84.5^bc	35.1^e	3.85	***	***	**
	15	112^ab	104^ab	109^ab	111^ab	62.2^d
	60	120^a	109^ab	119^a	121^a	66.8^cd
Lactic acid (g/kg DM)	7	16.5^e	14.5^ef	16.0^e	12.7^f	26.2^b	1.01	***	***	***
	15	20.3^d	22.7^c	18.5^de	21.0^cd	31.7^a
	60	18.4^de	26.7^b	21.0^cd	21.7^cd	31.4^a
Acetic acid (g/kg DM)	7	19.9^f	25.1^d	22.5^e	28.8^c	16.3^g	0.88	***	***	ns
	15	27.1^cd	30.5^b	30.6^b	32.7^ab	19.9^f
	60	29.6^bc	31.5^b	31.3^b	34.3^a	23.2^de
Propionic acid (g/kg DM)	7	0.38^d	0.37^d	0.38^d	0.40^d	0.42^d
	15	1.53^a	1.27^b	1.23^bc	0.98^c	1.00^c	0.04	***	*	***
	60	1.58^a	1.25^bc	1.27^b	1.30^b	1.49^ab
Lactic acid / acetic acid	7	0.83^c	0.58^d	0.71^cd	0.44^e	1.60^a	0.12	ns	***	**
	15	0.75^cd	0.74^cd	0.61^d	0.64^d	1.59^a
	60	0.63^d	0.85^c	0.67^cd	0.63^d	1.34^b

DM, dry matter; TN, total nitrogen. Butyric acid was not detected.

C, control; LCO, Lactobacillus coryniformis; LCA, Lactobacillus casei; LPL, Lactobacillus plantarum; LPE, Lactobacillus pentosus.

SEM, standard error of means.

⁴

D, ensiling days; T, inoculum treatments; D × T, the interaction between ensiling days and inoculum treatments.

*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. Means with different letters in the same analysis indicated a significant difference ns, not significant.