Other Life Sciences Commons^™

Development Of Microbial Inocula For Silage Fermentations, Plunkett Clarke

Masters

Silage is the product formed by the fermentation process that occurs when grass is stored anaerobically. Microbial silage inoculants are often added to grass at ensiling in order to improve the silage fermentation. Inoculants normally contain strains of homofermentative lactic acid bacteria. In order to be effective 10 6 viable microorganisms must be added per gram grass ensiled. Literature reports have shown that there are a number of shortcomings associated with inoculants most notably a lack of viability and long lag phases. Therefore, the objective of the research was to improve the quality of silage inoculants. It was hoped to …