Evaluation of microbial inoculation on nutritional and fermentative quality of corn silage

The corn hybrids AG 510 and AG 5011 (Agroceres) were ensiled in plastic experimental silos (four units/treatment), consisting of eight treatments: control (without inoculation), Sil-All(R) (S. faecium, P. acidilactici, L. plantarum, amylase, hemicellulase, and cellulase), Silobac(R) (L. plantarum, S. faecium, and Lactobacillus sp.), and Pioneer 1174(R) (S. faecium and L. plantarum). Silos were opened 106 days after ensiling and sampled to proceed chemical analyses. AG 510 and AG 5011 hybrids differed for DM (35.26 vs. 44.06%), CP (8.07 vs. 9.73%), ADIN (19.04 vs. 24.76% of total N), NDF (62.03 vs. 64.71%), ADF (36.74 vs. 40.19%), lignin (11.24 vs. 12.57%), water soluble carbohydrates (12.0 vs. 7.0%), starch (27.04 vs. 24.46%), pH (3.79 vs. 4.32), amoniacal nitrogen (4.19 vs. 8.81% of total N), lactic acid (4.875 vs. 1.421% of DM) and acetic acid (1.269 vs. 2.682% of DM). Pionner 11740 increased water-soluble carbohydrate in AG 510 hybrid, but not in AG 5011. Inoculation with Pioneer and Silobac had the highest and the intermediate starch content, respectively, in relation to control and Sil-All in the AG 510 hybrid, but not in AG 5011. AG 510 provided better fermentation pattern when compared to AG 5011, although inoculants showed no effects on those parameters.