Effects of Inoculation of Lactobacillus plantarum at Different Doses on Triticale (Triticosecale wittmack) Silage on Quality, Fermentation and Aerobic Stability Properties and Feed Value

This study was conducted to determine the effects of different doses of Lactobacillus plantarum (LP) inoculation into triticale silage on fermentation, quality, feed value, and aerobic stability. This study used three doses of LP bacteria strains (MF098786 strain) isolated from homemade pickles as inoculants. As LP dose, 1×106, 1×108 and 1×109 cfu/mL levels were used. The LP inoculation was applied by spraying onto by using a sterile injector at 1 mL per 1 kg material. The prepared silages were incubated for 60 d. The treatment groups in the study consisted of triticale control (TC), 1×106 (LP6T), 1×108 (LP8T) and 1×109 cfu/kg DM (LP9T) LP inoculated triticale. The LP inoculation of triticale silage improved silage fermentation, chemical and microbiological properties, silage quality, and feed value, and aerobic stability of the product, regardless of dose application. This application did not change the silage's organic matter, ash, and hemicellulose contents but decreased the crude fiber, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber contents. While there was no significant change in color parameters in all silages, a decrease in the ultimate pH value, and improvement in Flieg score and RFV were detected. The LP inoculation into triticale silage increased the number of lactic acid bacteria and decreased the number of yeast in the silages. This application improved the total digestible nutrient and energy values of LP9T silage compared with other silages. When LP doses were evaluated within themselves, it was determined that all doses gave almost similar results in terms of the parameters studied. However, when the data obtained from the research are evaluated as a whole, LP inoculation at the level of 1×109 cfu/mL can be recommended to triticale silage, because of the positive effects of silage on total digestible nutrient, digestible energy, metabolizable energy, and net energy contents.