The Effect of Molasses and Pre Fermented Lactic Acid Juice on Silage Quality and in Vitro Digestibility of Sugar Beet Pulp Plus Wheat Straw Silage

Abstract

In the present study, the effect of some silage additives (molasses, pre-fermented lactic acid juice and their combination) on silage quality of sugar beet pulp+wheat straw mixture was investigated. For this purpose, 4 groups, each consisted of 6 replicates, were designed; 1) sugar beet pulp+wheat straw mixture (Control), 2) sugar beet pulp+wheat straw mixture plus 2% molasses (M), 3) sugar beet pulp+wheat straw mixture plus pre-fermented lactic acid juice (PFJ, 44.07x10(7) cfu/ml(-1) LAB) and, 4) sugar beet pulp+wheat straw mixture plus 2% molasses+pre-fermented lactic acid juice (M+PFJ). The silages prepared in 1 L glass jars were opened after 60 days. While the amounts of dry matter (DM), crude ash (CA), and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) of treated-silages were higher than those of the control group (P <0.05), crude protein (CP) levels were not affected by treatment. pH, Fleigh score (FS), and lactic acid amounts were not affected by additives. However, the addition of molasses and PFJ decreased the NH3-N concentration of the silages compared to the control group (P <0.05). The M+PFJ addition decreased the acetic and propionic acid concentrations of the silages compared to those of the control group (P <0.05). As a result, the addition of 2% molasses and/or PFJ to the sugar beet pulp+wheat straw mixture reduced the DM losses of silages and did not affect the silage fermentation parameters and, in vitro digestibility of dry matter (DMD) and organic matter of silages (OMD).