Effects of calcium propionate on the fermentation quality and aerobic stability of alfalfa silage

Authors :: Wen Aiyou
Seare T. Desta
Zhihao Dong
Tao Shao
Xianjun Yuan
Source :: Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, Vol 30, Iss 9, Pp 1278-1284 (2017)
Publication Year :: 2017
Publisher :: Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies (AAAP) and Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology (KSAST), 2017.
Abstract: Objective To assess the potency of calcium propionate (CAP) used as silage additive, an experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of CAP on the nitrogen transformation, fermentation quality and aerobic stability of alfalfa silages. Methods Alfalfa was ensiled with four levels of CAP (5, 10, 15, and 20 g/kg of fresh weight [FW]) in laboratory silos for 30 days. After opening, the silages were analyzed for the chemical and microbiological characteristics, and subjected to an aerobic stability test. Results The increasing proportion of CAP did not affect pH, lactic acid (LA) concentrations and yeast counts, while linearly decreased counts of enterobacteria (p = 0.029), molds (p

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