Effect Of Different Additives On Mixed Silage Of Corn And Alfalfa

Alfalfa(Medicago sativa L.),as the king of forage grasses,had high nutritional value and could be used as a high-quality silage raw material,but it was difficult to silage successfully alone.Meanwhile,the problem of rain and heat in the same season in Guanzhong area makes alfalfa more difficult to silage.Now mixing silage for alfalfa and maize could solve the production challenges,and we used suitable additives to the mixed silage that could improve the overall quality of the mixed silage,which had important production meaning.In this study,corn and alfalfa were used as high-quality roughage sources for 1:3 mixed silage,at the same time different concentrations of various additives,including formic acid 1 m L/kg,5 m L/kg,10 m L/kg,sucrose 10 g/kg,20 g/kg,40 g/kg,lactic acid bacteria 1 mg/kg,5 mg/kg,10 mg/kg and cellulase 50 mg/kg,100 mg/kg,50 mg/kg were applied as additives.The purpose of the study investigated the effects of different silage additives and addition amounts on silage quality and nutritional value.The results showed that.1.All four additives improved the sensory evaluation score of mixed silage effect,and the color,aroma and texture of mixed silage were optimal under the treatment of formic acid(10 m L/kg),and the combined score of mixed silage is 19.66,which was significantly higher than the control group(P<0.05).All four additive treatments significantly reduced the p H of the silage compared to the control(P<0.05).Both formic acid and sucrose treatments significantly reduced the ammoniacal nitrogen/total nitrogen ratio of silage(P<0.05).Both sucrose and lactic acid bacteria at different concentrations resulted in a decrease in the soluble sugar content of mixed silage to 0.72-2.78(%DM),while high concentrations of formic acid(10 m L/kg)and cellulase(150 mg/kg)were able to significantly increase the soluble sugar content of silage(P<0.05)to 8.32 and 11.91(%DM).1 m L/kg formic acid,150 mg/kg cellulase and all three concentrations of sucrose treatments significantly increased the lactic acid content of silage(P<0.05)by 49.15%-96.27% compared to the control.The mean values of the affiliation functions of formic acid 10 m L/kg and sucrose 40 g/kg were larger,0.78 and0.66,respectively,by principal component and affiliation function analysis of the fermentation quality of mixed silage.2.10 g/kg sucrose treatment significantly increased the crude protein content of silage(P<0.05),significantly decreased the crude fiber content and significantly increased the crude fat content and nitrogen-free leachate content of all sucrose treatments(P<0.05).The water content of silage with 10 g/kg and 20 g/kg sucrose treatments was significantly lower than that of the treatments without additives(P<0.05),and the neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber contents of mixed silage under 10 g/kg and 20 g/kg sucrose treatments were significantly lower than that of the control group,and the relative feeding value was significantly higher than that of the other treatments(P<0.05).From the principal component analysis and affiliation function of the nutritional value of mixed silage,the mean values of the affiliation functions of 20 g/kg sucrose,40 g/kg sucrose and 1 mg/kg lactobacillus were larger,0.80,078 and 0.69,respectively,and their mixed silage had the best nutritional value.In a comprehensive analysis,considering the fermentation quality of mixed silage,10 m L/kg formic acid and 40 g/kg sucrose were preferred as additives;considering the nutritional value of mixed silage,20 g/kg sucrose and 40 g/kg sucrose were preferred as additives.On the whole,10-40 g/kg sucrose additive had the best overall performance for mixed silage of corn and alfalfa.