ENSILING PEAS, RYEGRASS AND WHEAT WITH ADDITIVES OF LACTIC-ACID BACTERIA (LAB) AND CELL-WALL DEGRADING ENZYMES

The effect of applying a commercial inoculum (at 1.5 x 10(5) cfu g-1) containing Streptococcus faecium (Lacticil M74(R), Medipharm, Sweden), and cell wall degrading enzymes (Celluclast(R) and Viscozyme(R), Novo, Denmark) to pea, ryegrass and wheat silages was studied under laboratory conditions. Celluclast was applied at 0.03 Novo Cellulose Units (NCU) and Viscozyme at 0.024 Fungal beta-glucanase (FBG) per g fresh crop. The peas and wheat used were at three stages of maturity, and the ryegrass used was either direct-cut or wilted. This yielded a wide range of dry matter (DM) and fibre content. Inoculum use improved the ensiling process of most of the forages tested, as indicated by a faster and greater decrease in pH, and by a faster and larger build-up of lactic acid. Inoculum, however, lowered the aerobic stability of wheat silages. The addition of the enzymes alone did not affect the ensiling process. In silages of peas and wheat at the flowering stage, the combination of inoculum and enzymes resulted in a improvement to the ensiling process, as compared with inoculum only. The combined treatment of inoculum and enzymes resulted in a lower percentage of neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) in the silages of the flowering peas and of the direct-cut ryegrass. The NDF and ADF contents in the inoculum plus enzyme-treated pea silages made at the flowering stage were 322 and 296 g kg- 1, compared with 365 and 327 g kg-1 in the control silages. The NDF and ADF contents in the silages made from the direct-cut ryegrass were 312 and 205 (treated with inoculum plus enzymes) vs 383 and 257 g kg-1 (control). However, the DM rumen digestibility of the silages was not improved by any of the treatments. It is concluded that a suitable inoculum could be beneficial to the ensiling process. The benefit expected from the application of cell wall degrading enzymes to silages is as yet unclear.